My sister was exposed to COVID-19 positive patient and is symptomatic. Please help.

Question

Hi doctor,

My sister was exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient, and now she has similar symptoms, such as sore throat, dry mouth, cough, and body aches, for ten days. For the last two days, she had bad nausea and fatigue. She is taking Medigas, Unienzyme, AB Phylline, Darolac, Paracetamol, Ivermectin, Montair FX, and Azee 500 tablets.

She has been taking care of a COVID-19-positive patient for the past fifteen days. Her body temperature is 98 degree, and her oxygen level is around 95 percent.

Please help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thanks for the query. I can understand your concern. According to your statement, your sister has been suffering from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) symptoms like sore throat, dry mouth, cough, body ache, nausea, unusual fatigue, etc., and she had a history of exposure to the COVID-19 positive patient.

Did she undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test for COVID-19?

According to the recent guidelines, if a person has symptoms of COVID-19 infection, but his or her RT-PCR test is negative, he or she will be considered as COVID-19 positive and treated accordingly. So, she will be treated as a COVID-19 positive patient.

She should undergo investigations like CBC (complete blood count), HRCT (high-resolution computed tomography) of the chest, RBS (random blood sugar), CRP (c-reactive protein), LDH (lactate dehydrogenase), D-dimer, etc., to assess her present health condition. Please make sure to do the RT-PCR test. In the meantime, she should take only paracetamol for pain or fever, antihistamines, antiemetics, etc. She should gargle with salt mixed lukewarm water two to three times daily.

If she develops pneumonia, antiviral medications will be started. Take care.

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thank you.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

Thanks for the query. Your sister can undergo HRCT of the chest, RT-PCR test for COVID-19, etc., on the sixth or seventh day of her symptoms. As your sister's husband is COVID-19 positive, she can get infected by COVID-19. As she has a cough, an HRCT of the chest can assess her lung disease. Her oxygen saturation level is above 95 percent, so it is great news for her. Keep monitoring her oxygen saturation level routinely. Suppose her oxygen saturation declines below 93 percent. In that case, if respiratory distress occurs or she has an intractable cough and shortness of breath, she might need a hospital setting for oxygen inhalation therapy and close monitoring. Before developing these situations, there is no need for her to admit herself to a hospital. Take care. In case of any other query, knock me.

Thank you.