key: cord-1035239-c16xdsvw
authors: Tewari, Prabhat
title: Are Humans So Vulnerable? They Are!
date: 2020-07-17
journal: Ann Card Anaesth
DOI: 10.4103/aca.aca_164_20
sha: ce284df14557ac6f6c4095fbe5b40ab10430246e
doc_id: 1035239
cord_uid: c16xdsvw

nan

A pandemic is running and we all have got affected in some way or the other. COVID-19 virus has proved so elusive that figuring out the complete picture of its action is still taking time. Every day, a new dimension of human affliction is reported in the world literature. The figures are scary, and the mortality due to COVID-19 virus has been more in the older population and those with comorbidities. [1] What is the effect and role in the younger population and the children during this spread is not clearly known. Moreover, this disease has given two very important aspects to tackle it. One, the new social norms that may somewhat contain the human spread. In human history, all around the world, use of masks and no to handshakes and hugs are the new awakening. Humanity has started to find meanings in bowing and Namaste (greetings with folded hands from a distance). The other ones such as social distancing still are proving either a bit difficult to keep or is being thrown to winds due to the toll of recluse and loneliness that happened during the lockdowns in societies around the world, something that seems an antithesis to human existence.

Second, at present, the supportive management in the hospital wards and the intensive care units is the only availability. Healthcare workers (HCWs) came out as the new axis of spin, and we saw the chinks in the armor of the various healthcare systems around the world. However, the messages came out loud and clear that all said and done, in a pandemic of such a scale, the provisions of healthcare will always lag behind the number of health seekers! Further, it has to be dealt with pragmatism in triaging so that we prevent the overburdening of the healthcare systems and decrease the viral load in the population by increased laboratory testing and contact tracing and early care for the most vulnerable, quarantine included. The researchers around the world grappled with the data that emanated from clinical case series and the prospective trials, finding the most suitable medication and the efforts for building up an effective vaccine, and sometimes got caught on the wrong foot. Moreover, we have yet to succeed in getting the success in that regard.

The HCWs who have had gone through the COVID-19 intensive care rotations have come out with a potpourri of emotions, and one such physician drew a pencil sketch for ACA, the "COVID TANGLE" when asked about the experience without any hesitation or taking fraction of the time. We have included this as front cover picture of this issue to share although that person consented for this display but preferred to remain anonymous.

This issue also looks at the Italian experience on a very intriguing aspect of the COVID-19 and that is the thrombotic phenomenon that is said to be a part of the inflammatory storm that this virus rages in some patients increasing the morbidity and mortality. [2] Are Humans So Vulnerable? They Are! Viewpoint Another author has written a brief communication about the behavior in the cardiac cath lab, another area of great vulnerability, as it is the patient and relative dense area in any hospital and understanding of the present situation is sacrificed on the altar of uncertainty and fear about the loss of loved ones. [3] Few more articles on this subject may come up in the next issue of ACA; however, during lockdown, the new culture of work from home has though kept the publishers functioning smoothly, there may be some delays in bringing out and distributing the print copies of ACA to the readers. I am really sorry about that.

I end this with a request and a prayer that in this situation, every single human being has to think not only about self but also about the community in which he or she resides and is responsible for actions that may reduce our vulnerability to such infectious pandemics, and I pray for a safe landing for each one of us whenever that is possible in the near future.

Comparing SARS-CoV-2 with SARS-CoV and Influenza Pandemics

Anticoagulants and immunosuppressant in COVID-19: Bullets to defeat the microclots

A brief guidance for cardiologists for resource containment measures to mitigate anticipated shortages of N-95 filtering facepiece respirators during COVID-19 pandemic

How to cite this article: Tewari P. Are humans so vulnerable? They are

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10.4103/aca.ACA_164_20