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Failing on the basics: Are we able to #BreakTheChain of infection transmission? - Mangalorean.com

Failing on the basics: Are we able to #BreakTheChain of infection transmission? - Mangalorean.com

Failing on the basics: Are we able to #BreakTheChain of infection transmission? - Mangalorean.com
Jan 09, 2022 1 min, 55 secs

Breaking the chain of infection transmission is still the golden cog-in-the-wheel for disease control.

Proper use of masks, maintaining physical distancing, frequent sanitising/ washing of hands, avoiding crowded places, preventing and managing co-morbidities that increase the risk of serious outcomes of COVID-19, universal access to testing, and linking with clinical care pathways continue to be the best ways we can prevent the virus from spreading.

But some state governments in India have imposed night curfew, even though the WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has said (as reported in the news) that “there is no science behind night curfews when it comes to tackling the spread of COVID-19 variants.” After all, major infection transmission is likely to happen during the social mixing and crowded places during the day.

Dr Swaminathan added: “Politicians and policymakers need to start balancing the scientific and evidence-based methods we have to control COVID-19 transmission, to reduce its impact on people – particularly reducing deaths and hospitalisations, while at the same time, keeping economies open, making sure livelihoods are not impacted, because people have suffered enough.”.

These mutations have made it easier for Omicron to infect human cells, have an immune escape so that fully vaccinated people, or those who have had COVID-19, are at risk of being (re)infected, and develop the ability to multiply in the cells of the upper respiratory tract (instead of lower respiratory tract or lungs, as is the case with the previous variants).

Dr Michael Ryan, WHO Executive Director of Global Emergencies Programme said that studies done in the UK and South Africa, show that people in the household are at a 10% to 60% risk to contract omicron virus from a family member infected with the virus.

However, those people who had been fully vaccinated had a much lower risk of having a secondary transmission in their household.

Dr Ryan also highlights that we should “…recognise that a household is a place where you can reduce the risk of transmission.” It is our responsibility also to self-isolate if we feel sick, get tested, and as per the diagnosis, get appropriate treatment and care, without putting anyone else at risk of infection.

While governments are scaling up vaccination against COVID-19, perhaps it is equally or more urgent to ensure universal adherence to the basics of infection control

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