In Second Wave, 30 Per Cent Of COVID Deaths In Karnataka Had No Comorbidities, Experts Puzzled

Those with comorbidities like hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney issues are at high risk of dying from COVID-19 - this has been shown in various studies across the world and that is one reason why they were given priority in vaccinations.

But a recent development in Karnataka has raised some alarm bells.

As the second wave, unlike the first wave is mostly affecting younger people, the number of youths dying from COVID-19 or related complications has also increased.

Reuters

However, in Karnataka, it is reported that 30% of those who died due to Covid had no comorbidities.

According to The Times of India, mortality data for the past week shows that 50 Covid-19 positive persons without any comorbidities have died in Bengaluru and other districts every day.

On Thursday, Karnataka reported 270 Covid deaths. Of these, 92 persons had not reported any comorbidities when they turned up for testing.

BCCL

Experts are still unclear about the reason for the high number of COVID-19 deaths among 'seemingly health people'.

But according to Dr Giridhara R Babu, epidemiologist and member of Covid technical advisory committee, this could be a case of undiagnosed illness.

BCCL

¡°There is a high burden of undiagnosed illness in the country, especially in the younger population. We had conducted a study earlier among IT professionals in Bengaluru and found many had high blood pressure and hypertension, which they were not aware of. This apart, more people succumb to Covid if their immune response is not high or if their tolerance to the virus is low,¡± he told The Times of India.