COVID Pneumonia in the Elderly - Not a Basket Case Always
Kallappa Baligeri1, Athish Mn2, Unnati Desai3
1Junior Resident, TNMC and BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Abstract:
COVID 19 is a respiratory disease, caused by a novel coronavirus, which was christened as SARSCoV2. It has spread rapidly all over the globe, leading to a pandemic with high mortality, due to the lack of pre-existing immunity. The elderly population (old-old ; > 75 years) has been increasingly affected with more severe respiratory symptoms, as compared to the young old (60-75 years) and middle aged patients, probably due to the increasing presence of comorbidities. A greater proportion of the elderly have lymphopenia, raised inflammatory markers and increased D-dimer levels. We report two such cases with severe Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), who improved with early diagnosis and management. Hence, prompt diagnosis and early intervention can avert a bad outcome.
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