By Gabriel Princewill-
Research about Covid-19 victims with no known underlying issues who died of the virus will be carried out by the Nhs , The Eye Of Media.Com can reveal. Nhs Digital England said research covering Covid-19 was already underway, but none comprehensively addressing the details of victims with no underlying issues was currently active.
”The pressure facing the Nhs at the present time is so extreme that not every detail of research would be practical in an emergency situation” , a well informed representative for Nhs Digital told The Eye Of Media.Com. The Nhs has access to the medical history of Covid-19 victims, but not other information about them outside of their medical record. There are also some problems about asking patients for details about their life because this would be self reporting, but there are many innovative ways of getting all necessary information useful to research.
”We already have a vast repository of data on health care and more research is in the works that will interest pharmaceuticals and researchers, and researchers representatives of Nhs Digital which specialise in clinical data and tech, management of cybersecurity and inter-operationality, the Nhs Digital representative said. There are several departments that make up the Nhs, and each is playing various roles. Universities and researchers will be pouring out for research, but not everything will be there immediately.
Detailed questions about the make up of Covid -19 victims said to have no underlying issues has been a great point of interest amongst researchers seeking to explore the depths of the virus and its damaging impact. It serves the useful purpose of making the public aware that absolutely nobody is immune from catching the virus. However, it is still imperative for meticulous and comprehensive research analysis to be conducted about every facet of this virus and the types of victims it has claimed.
The categorisation of a minority of overall victims to the ‘no underlying issues’ bracket has heightened the cognisance of the virus amongst ordinary people, but there remains a lot to learn about this obscure virus which is still the subject of broad investigations amongst experts across the globe. The known existence of a range of other factors that debilitates the immune system, and invariably, their resistance to the coronavirus has made the need for research about this vital.
Explored
Precisely all the factors that have been at work in weakening the resistance of the immune system of those who have died of the deadly virus are yet to be fully explored, and will be embodied in a comprehensive research that seeks to understand the full scale of the virus better. The overwhelming circumstances under which the Nhs has been coping with the unprecedented intake of patients has meant prioritising the pressing objectives of saving lives over collating every type of research.
And with the race to find a successful vaccine for this virus ever urgent, the importance of unravelling the obscurities of the virus remains paramount. It is well known that most victims of Covid-19 have had pre-existing illnesses, but ascribing the relatively few who have no diagnosed illness to the category of having no underlying issues may be too simplistic a conclusion when seeking to understand those in this group.
Vulnerable
Vulnerable individuals on the Nhs shielded list are broadly categorised by Nhs Digital. They reveal a snapshot of the types of individuals with underlying issues Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, working with the CMOs of the devolved administrations and other senior clinicians, commissioned NHS Digital to produce a list of vulnerable people at “high risk” of complications from COVID-19, who should be shielded for at least 12 weeks.
They include those with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer . Those with targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immuno suppression drugs.
They also extend to individuals with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD. Severe asthmatics are those who are frequently prescribed high dose steroid tablets. People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID, homozygous sickle cell)
No Underlying Issues
Describing a victim of Covid -19 as having no underlying issues, does not always tell the full story. The category of people who fall under the’ underlying issues’ category refers mainly to those who have been diagnosed with a serious condition or ailment. It takes no account of other vices like excessive smoking, drinking habits, and perpetual drug use, despite evidence that their regular indulgence of the aforementioned products potentially weakens the immune system . At extreme levels, this could even tip the balance.
Scientifically recognised health issues that can incapacitate one’s resistance to the coronavirus are numerous. They include mental health set backs and unhealthy habits like excessive smoking, alcohol, insomnia, anxiety, or panic attacks, excessive frequent drug use, consumption of caffine, all weaken the immune system enough to make victims succumb quickly to the coronavirus.
Incentives to identify the statistical medical details of those who have died with no underlying issues will not be expected to be high. This is because its findings may lead those who fall outside the bracket of any conclusive results about potentially vulnerable individuals to become complacent with their vigilance.
The interesting thing about the prospective research is the possibility that it could produce inconclusive outcomes. There could be a number of patients with a lot of the tell tale signs of weakened immune systems who survive the virus. Nevertheless, without the definitive results of an exhaustive research, too much will be left to the realms of speculation. The impact of Covid-19 may even more pronounced when more than one of these factors is at work. In the meantime, the advice for members of the public to continue to self isolate, and only go out to obtain essential goods.
Causative Factors
The Nhs acknowledges that collating statistical information about various categories of Covid-19victims is a proficient way to properly analyse all the potential causative factors in the deaths of the victims, for research and analytical purposes. Such research could also help us better understand the virus and the full scale of its operation in terms of identifying the degree o vulnerability different groups have to vulnerable victims.
”Nhs England together with Public Health England and other organisations/research institutes will be conducting research at many levels, including that of people who have died with no known pre-existing condition. The information is not yet available.