Kolkata hospitals contest ICMR on patients without symptoms

High possibility of non-Covid patients in the hospital wards getting infected if tests are stopped

A woman being tested for Covid-19: File Picture

SANJAY MANDAL | TT  |  13.01.22 :  The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said asymptomatic patients seeking admission in hospitals for surgeries and procedures should not undergo Covid tests unless symptoms develop but officials of several private healthcare facilities in Kolkata said they were not following this because “it would be disastrous”.

The hospitals said many patients seeking admission with different ailments are testing positive for Covid during the routine tests. So, if the tests were stopped then there would be a high possibility of non-Covid patients in the hospital wards getting infected.

“Asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical/non-surgical invasive procedures including pregnant women in/near labour who are hospitalised for delivery should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop,” the advisory on purposive testing strategy for Covid-19 in India, issued by the ICMR on January 10, stated.

The advisory comes under who might be tested in hospital settings.

It says that no emergency procedure (including surgeries and deliveries) should be delayed for a lack of a test.

According to a state health department official, the advisory, which is not binding on hospitals, has been issued to reduce the burden of testing on the laboratories which are already under stress.

But hospitals said it would be risky to follow the advice.

“We have a high number of patients who don’t have Covid symptoms but are coming with other complications, needing surgeries and procedures, who are testing positive for Covid. If we keep them untested with other patients then the non-Covid patients would also get the infection,” said Sudipta Mitra, the chief executive of Peerless Hospital.

The hospital had 51 patients admitted for surgeries and procedures on Tuesday without any symptoms of Covid. Out of them, 18 had tested positive for Covid during the routine tests before admission. “We are continuing with the pre-admission Covid tests,” he said.

At Belle Vue Clinic, more than 80 per cent of the patients coming with other ailments are also testing positive for Covid, said officials.

“If we stop the testing then not only the non-Covid patients but also our doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers would get affected in large numbers. We cannot afford that,” said Pradip Tondon, the CEO of Belle Vue.

At RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, 25 to 30 per cent of the patients coming for admission to undergo surgeries and procedures are found to have Covid during the routine tests.

“We’ll continue the process of pre-admission Covid tests for the safety of all patients,” said R Venkatesh, regional director, east, of Narayana Health, of which the RN Tagore hospital is a flagship unit.

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He said in emergency cases, the patient is taken to the operation theatre meant for emergencies before the test is done.

“We get the sample collected and sent for testing even as the patient is undergoing the surgery. This reduces delay and also soon after the surgery is over, the results are available. Depending on the report, the patient is shifted to a Covid or non-Covid unit,” said Venkatesh. 

Most hospitals are asking patients who have to undergo planned surgery to get the RT-PCR tests on OPD basis and then if the report is negative, they are advised admission.

Otherwise, the patients are asked to wait for a negative report.

Many hospitals are also doing rapid antigen tests for emergency surgeries and procedures. However, if the report is negative, a second RT-PCR test is being done because the sensitivity of RAT is much less compared to RT-PCR, said officials.

The Telegraph has earlier reported how many patients without any symptoms of Covid are testing positive while getting tested before a surgery or procedure. Many such surgeries are getting deferred because of this.