Pneumologist warns of virus risks

Santo Domingo.- Respiratory diseases that are occurring in the country due to several viruses, including Covid-19, as well as others due to bacteria, tend to cause similar symptoms, such as fever and general malaise, but what modifies the disease are the risk factors that the patient may have.

The intensivist pulmonologist, Emil Jorge Manzur, said there are mild cases, and his main recommendation is that if a patient has a history of respiratory problems and other diseases, he should pay attention to him and not abandon his medication, especially when they present difficulty breathing.

Covid on the rise

“There are three, and be careful if more viruses are spread because we not only have Covid, which is already three weeks in the rise of cases; we have influenza, metaneumovirus, we have adenovirus, which are very frequent at this time, among others, without counting the bacterial infections that we commonly see,” expressed the respiratory tract specialist.

He explained that almost all these infections are symptomatic, and these symptoms must be treated.

“The patient should be concerned” whether or not they have difficulty breathing or if the symptoms last more than five days because there are specific things that can be done for each of these viruses or bacterial infections that could modify the disease,” added Jorge Manzur.

Do not self-medicate with antibiotics

Faced with the fact that many people say they are using the same medications prescribed to them when they tested positive for Covid-19 on previous occasions, the specialist does not rule it out completely, although without self-medicating with antibiotics.

He said most people used antiallergic and mucolytic and may do so now, as well as some expectorant syrups.

“What is wrong in the case is that they add antibiotic without knowing if it is bacterial, it is wrong that they use Ivermectin, because they are not used in any context” and other drugs they used in the first line.

As for vitamin and mineral supplements (such as vitamin D, zinc, melatonin, and others) indicated when Covid was at its highest peak, the physician understands that it is not wrong to use them either. However, there is nothing to prove that the impact of the disease will be less.

Avoiding contracting viruses collectively

The renowned pulmonologist calls to take care of oneself within the framework of the possible, to value avoiding exaggerated conglomerations of people without mask protection; if you have a respiratory symptom, you must protect “your neighbor” and use a mask.

“Again, it is a very individual issue because what we do not want is that everyone gets it at the same time,” indicated Jorge Manzur, who added that most people will contract one of these viruses, but we must take care of the most sensitive ones, to avoid a severe impact.

Do not be afraid

“We do not recommend that everyone should be afraid, but we must be aware that the problem is individual. Whether it is bad for you or not is your own problem,” the pulmonologist pointed out.

Dr. Jorge Manzur said that for Covid-19, there are currently some drugs, but he acknowledged that they are expensive, one of which costs more than 30,000 pesos.