Cardiac patients need to take extra care

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, cardiologists say heart disease patients need to be extra careful.

“Coronavirus attacks the heart muscles. This leads to fluctuating heart rate. Due to already weak heart muscles, pumping action is weak in heart patients. Symptoms of breathlessness should not be ignored at all,” said Dr Ravi Shankar, senior cardiologist.

Patients with cardiovascular disease are not only at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 but also have worse prognosis. “Cardiac complications of Covid-19 are similar to SARS, MERS, and influenza. Given the increased risk of secondary bacterial infection with Covid-19, it is essential for cardiovascular patients to take pneumococcal vaccine, these patients should also be vaccinated against influenza in accordance with the guidelines of Centre for Disease Control (CDC),” said Dr E Babu, consultant interventional cardiologist.

Stating that smokers are at a higher risk of getting lung and chest infections, experts say it is very important that people who smoke don’t do so in the presence of non-smokers. “People are mostly indoors these days and they might want to smoke in front of a family member, especially kids, and this puts them at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus,” said Dr A Srikanth, secretary, Indian Dental Association, Deccan Branch.