Doctors conference under scanner after anaesthetist who attended meet tests positive for Omicron
Bengaluru: An international doctor's conference held at a star hotel in Bengaluru has come under scanner after a 46 year old Karnataka-based anaesthetist who had no foreign travel history was found positive with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, one of the first two cases of the new strain reported from India in Bengaluru.
In addition, two more doctors who attended the conference were diagnosed with Covid-19.
Also Read: Important FAQ's on Omicron released by Health Ministry
The conference that was held between November 19 and November 21, was attended by the Karnataka doctor on November 20.
As per Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike information, the doctor's sample was sent for genome sequencing by chance as the CT value in his Covid test was 13, which is an indication of a heavy viral load. However, the doctor did not show any other symptoms except tiredness and is presently fine, reports Hindustan Times.
The international conference was narrowed down as the possible source of infection, as the government started tracing all the possible sources.
As per a recent media report in Times of India, the doctor started complaining of fever and body ache and got tested a day after he attended the event. The conference organizers believe that the doctor might have got infected even before the conference since the symptoms of the virus are visible after 5-10 days of the incubation period. And the doctor started showing symptoms within a period less than 24 hours after attending the conference.
Also Read: Karnataka Anaesthetist, South African Traveller India's First 2 Omicron Cases
An organizer of the 28th annual conference of the Indian College of Cardiology told TOI, "He may have been hosting the virus in his body while attending the conference."
A senior doctor who attended the conference added, "Five doctors from a hospital have tested positive for Covid, of whom three were found to be affected with Delta and one Omicron. The genomic sequencing of the fifth doctor's swab sample is awaited. At least three of them attended the conference, but there were contacts for each and they're overlapping."
As per various media reports, some doctors were not following the Covid protocol since some were seen without masks. The event was attended by around 60 medical professionals physically. However, some international speakers attended the event in an online mode, stated that the organising secretary of the conference Dr BC Srinivas, organising secretary of the conference. All the attendees were completely vaccinated.
Dr BC Srinivas added, "As there were doctors involved, we were extremely careful. All participants were fully vaccinated."
The organizers added that 163 operation theatre staff of a hospital, some of whom were present at the conference and their colleagues and patients have tested negative for Covid-19. The organisers further added, "None has symptoms. We'll also retest them. It's already 12 days since the conference got over. It is not a cluster but has to be seen only as isolated cases."
The health department officials stated that the government learnt about the conference after the Omicron infection surfaced.
D Randeep, commissioner, health and family welfare department stated that three persons who attended the conference have been tested positive. "We still do not have confirmation if all of them attended the conference at the same time. We got information about the conference only on December 1. We are in the process of tracing and testing," he said.
K V Trilok Chandra, special commissioner, health, BBMP said, "A total of 81 other persons who attended the conference including staffers in the hotel have been tested for Covid and they are all negative. We can't come to any conclusion." Another BBMP official mentioned that the process of tracing the contacts is presently ongoing.
Speaking to the Deccan Herald about the medical conference he had attended, the 46 year old doctor said, "On November 20, I had been to a medical conference at a hotel but I was late. I reached the venue only by 9.30 pm since I had to finish some work at home. By 10.30 pm I left the hotel. That's just one hour. I don't know how the incubation period can be just 24 hours: from Saturday to Sunday. Any virus takes at least three to four days to incubate after entering the body. But this is a new variant and I don't have much information."
Adding that he had no symptoms before going to the conference, he said, "If I had had symptoms before that I wouldn't even go. Only after I went there and came back, my symptoms started." Speaking about the delegates who participated, he said, "They had participated online. All in-person participants were local. I didn't go to any place of worship or temple as is being alleged. Studies on the Omicron variant are going on in other countries. Even in our country, we have just detected one case."
After this, many members of medical community have expressed their concerns over coming conferences in the city. A few neonatologists in Bengaluru have asked the BBMP to not to allow the organizing of the National Neonatology Forum Neocon 2021 to be held from December 16-19. A doctor said, "Hundreds of doctors from all over the country have registered to attend it physically at a resort near Hoskote. It must be cancelled."
The former minister HK Patil has written to the chief minister regarding the fear created due to the new variant in Karnataka, where he mentioned the conference, stating, "More than 125 fourwheelers were used for the conference and those who attended the conference also visited malls for shopping." Patil added that the government has remained ineffective in tracing the contacts of those who attended the conference.
Hindustan Times reports that the doctor was last present within the hospital premise on November 19, and he performed his last surgery on Novmber 17. However he did not get into a direct contact with the patients since he is an anesthesiologist. The officials said that the hospital premises is safe.
The other person who had tested positive for Omicron variant of Covid-19, the 66 year old person from South Africa, had left the country on November 27 with the help of a negative Covid certificate that he got from a private testing facility. A probe has been ordered into the incident because the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said it is doubtful that he had tested negative after three days of being tested positive.
