Khanna Sanat Kumar, Maheshwari Saurabh, Bayad Himanshu Chhagan, Adersh M K, Rajput Nakul Singh
Military Hospital, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 171006 India.
Army Medical Corps Centre and College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001 India.
Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Oct;74(Suppl 2):3337-3343. doi: 10.1007/s12070-022-03174-2. Epub 2022 Oct 15.
We conducted the study to find the prevalence of ENT symptoms amongst mild Covid-19 patients from the hilly region of North India and attempted to propose a solution to curb the spread of Covid-19 through early identification, isolation, and treatment. A retrospective, cross-sectional study at a secondary healthcare center in a hilly region of North India covered 423 mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients from April 2020 to March 2022. These patients were telephonically contacted or called in person at the outpatient department to answer a preset questionnaire with various parameters such as age, gender, ENT symptoms, and time to recover. The data obtained were statistically analyzed. 207 out of 423 mild Covid-19 patients complained of different ENT symptoms. Cough was the most common ENT symptom and was reported by 162 patients. Dizziness was the least common ENT symptom and was reported by 9 patients. Recovery time for tinnitus was maximum (persistent till six months in 5 patients). A high index of suspicion for Covid-19 disease in patients with ENT symptoms must be practiced. As the Covid-19 restrictions are gradually relaxed, widespread community education for strict adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and sensitization of General Practitioners a well as Otorhinolaryngologists regarding the importance of ENT symptoms in mild Covid19 disease will play a pivotal role in the early identification, isolation, and treatment of mild Covid-19 disease, which eventually may curb the future waves.
我们开展这项研究是为了查明印度北部山区轻症新冠患者中耳鼻喉症状的患病率，并试图提出一个通过早期识别、隔离和治疗来遏制新冠传播的解决方案。在印度北部山区一家二级医疗中心进行的一项回顾性横断面研究，涵盖了2020年4月至2022年3月期间423名有轻微症状的新冠患者。通过电话联系或在门诊部亲自召集这些患者，让他们回答一份预设问卷，内容包括年龄、性别、耳鼻喉症状以及恢复时间等各种参数。对获得的数据进行了统计分析。423名轻症新冠患者中有207名抱怨有不同的耳鼻喉症状。咳嗽是最常见的耳鼻喉症状，有162名患者报告有此症状。头晕是最不常见的耳鼻喉症状，有9名患者报告有此症状。耳鸣的恢复时间最长（5名患者持续到六个月）。对于有耳鼻喉症状的患者，必须保持对新冠疾病的高度怀疑指数。随着新冠限制措施逐渐放宽，广泛开展社区教育以促使人们严格遵守新冠防疫行为，并让全科医生以及耳鼻喉科医生认识到耳鼻喉症状在轻症新冠疾病中的重要性，这将在轻症新冠疾病的早期识别、隔离和治疗中发挥关键作用，最终可能遏制未来的疫情浪潮。
