SRINAGAR: The health authorities in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have taken up research on Covid-19 to understand its nature and behaviour.
Dr. Naveed Ahmad Shah, head of department at CD hospital while talking exclusively to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that they are conducting studies on Covid-19 at different levels.
“The virus is new and it takes time to understand its nature and behaviour. We have not published any research work on it as of now but data is available with us and we are trying to analyse it.”
He said it is very important to know more and more about this deadly disease as we have to live with it and precaution is the only medicine to this infection.
Professor Farooq Jan Medical superintendent while to KNO said that many doctors at SKIMS are conducting research work on Covid-19 and very soon it will be published.
He said that research has its importance and it will help in knowing the behaviour of the virus and as time will pass and fatalities due to this virus will be less as people will develop immunity against the virus.
He further added that research has more importance in J&K as most patients here are asymptomatic and there is need to know its behaviour among them besides how immune system reacts to this infection.
Doctors Association President Dr Nisar Ul Hassan said that medical profession is all about studies and doctors must research to see the pattern and behaviour of the disease.
He said that there is a CDC funded virology lab in Soura and it is their duty to conduct research work on the virus as they are funded just for researches.
“Research is much needed both at the community level and hospital level also because on that basis only we can say how this virus behaves in our community besides what is the actual prevalence of this virus,” he said.
He said the gender difference, age difference, mortality, people susceptible to serious illness besides other things must be studied minutely.
“We have around 20 percent patients whose age group is 0-20 years, while as in other parts children are hardly affected and that pattern is something which basically we have to see particularly as government is intending to open schools,” he said.
We have to take care and know about these things at an earliest because minors are asymptomatic and if we open schools, an asymptomatic minor can become super spreader of the virus, he said
He said that so this is very important aspect to know the prevalence for intervention and policy making tomorrow and everything is dependent on data, analysis and research.
“We can’t rely on research of other countries and other states as the virus is behaving something differently here. It is critically important to have an indigenous study so that we can devise policy to prevent the spread in future because this virus is going to stay.”
“Based on our analysis, over 74 percent patients in here are between 20 to 60 years of age,” he said adding that as per WHO report those under 19 make up only 2.4 percent of the total cases but in Kashmir around 18 percent of the cases are in the age group 0-19 which needs a research at an earliest.