Three coronavirus afflicted patients recover due to innovative treatment by doctors at Jaipur govt hospital

An eighty-five-year-old resident of Jaipur and two Italians, who tested positive for coronavirus, have recovered due to a unique line of treatment followed by doctors of the government owned Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. The doctors at the SMS Hospital, led by Dr Sudhir Bhandari, in consultation with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), for the first time in the country treated these coronavirus victims with medicines used for treating HIV, malaria and swine flu.

“We used a combo of Lopinavir and Ritonavir drugs which are usually given as a second line of treatment for HIV with drugs meant for curing malaria and swine flu. We administered this line of treatment to a 70-year-old Italian woman, who had come as a tourist to Rajasthan, who tested positive and was being treated by us, as well as another Italian, who is 69-year-old,” said Dr Sudhir Bhandari.

Dr Sudhir Bhandari led a team comprising Dr Raman Sharma, Dr Prakash Keswani, Dr S Banerjee, Dr Bharat Sharma, Dr Sushil Bhati and a host of other specialists along with an efficient team of nursing staff.

“The team of doctors under the leadership of Dr Sudhir Bhandari, Principal of SMS Medical College held consultations with the ICMR and tried a combination medicines given for malaria, swine flu (Tamiflu) along with drugs for HIV and it worked well. All three persons including the Italians were cured this way,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health of Rajasthan government.

The Italian couple had come to India with a group of Italian tourists when it was found that the male Italian was positive and so was his wife. The Italian couple were cured of coronavirus following this line of treatment.

“I along with my husband flew from Dubai on February 28 where we had gone to see our son who is in business there. On our return, my husband fell ill and he was admitted to a local hospital. But there was no relief, so we admitted him to the SMS Medical College, where, to our horror, he tested positive. But the doctors at the SMS Hospital did wonders and cured my husband. I am so grateful to them. In fact, Rajasthan government handled the whole issue with great care. In fact, all the persons who came from Dubai and landed in Jaipur on the flight they were with us were tested, but barring my husband all others tested negative,” the lady said.

“This was a laudable effort by the state government who took so much care by asking all the passengers who had travelled that day from Dubai to Jaipur to come and face tests. Luckily, all were found to be negative,” said the wife of the Jaipur based victim.

The Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has addressed the district collectors through video conferencing and directed them to create awareness among the masses about the dreadful virus, ensuring that there was no mass assembly of people in fairs and in other social events.

The Gehlot government, without banning any fairs or religious gathering, urged the people to avoid such assembly of people in their own interest.

“In a city like Jaipur we have already conducted over 1.50 lakh surveys using the services of the nursing students who went door to door to find out if there was any COVID-19 positive case. 236 persons from Iran who landed in Jaisalmer are being kept in isolation by the army medical team. The answer to the COVID-19 lies in awareness and precautions and we are stressing on these lines,” said Gehlot.

The innovation by doctors of the SMS Hospital could serve as the model for other states to follow.

“The ICMR is in touch with me and we have suggested that the ICMR with some more research can find an easy solution to cure coronavirus positive persons. We at our end are happy with the good results,” said a smiling Dr Bhandari.