Almost all the Covid-19 patients found in Jharkhand so far are asymptomatic – a trend that has made screening a tricky business, health officials said on Monday. Many of them even recovered from the lethal viral infection without showing any of the Covid-19 symptoms specified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), they added.
At least 160 cases of coronavirus infection were reported in the State by the time this report was filed on Monday.
And interesting, nearly 60 per cent of Jharkhandis infected by the virus were in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years, figures shared by the National Health Mission (NHM) said.
In-Charge of State's Covid-19 Task force, Dr. Prabhat Kumar said it is assumed that the people in Jharkhand may have developed some sort of immunity because of the high usage of Hydroxy-Chloroquine here since the region is prone to Malaria.
"The recovery time taken by patients here is also faster than most of the other states. This too could be a result of the high immunity of Jharkhandis," he said.
At least as 76 of the 160 cases reported in Jharkhand by Monday evening are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years and 49 are in the age bracket of 31 to 50 years, the NHM report said. At least nine children, below the age of 10 years, have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand so far, the report added.
According to NHM, at least 78 of the 160 patients here –nearly 50 per cent– have recovered from the viral infection and discharged from hospital. Interestingly, most of them did not show any of the Covid-19 symptoms during their treatment, said doctors from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.
While some doctors are of the opinion that lack of symptoms in patients could be a sign of high immunity, the growing number of asymptomatic patients may cause problems for the health machinery here, health officials said.
Since most of the patients don't know that they have been infected by the virus, they can easily become carriers and infect others who do not have a strong immune system, said a senior health official.
Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni agreed that most of the Covid-19 patients in Jharkhand were asymptomatic.
However, he refused to comment on the possible reasons behind this trend in the tribal State. Covid-19 has caused two deaths in the State so far. Both the deceased were in the age bracket of 51 to 70 years, he added.