To the editor:
As a retired physician, I would like to share some thoughts on the benefits of preventing versus treating COVID-19 infections. We have heard much talk about preventing the disease and treating people after they get sick. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true.
When I was in medical school, a professor made this point with two cartoons. The first showed a sink with the faucet running full blast, and eight doctors in white coats frantically catching the water in buckets and mopping the floor. The caption read, “Treatment Doctors.” The second showed one doctor turning off the tap, with the caption “Prevention Doctor.” So much effort can be saved, and suffering and death avoided by prevention.
Treating a COVID-19 infection can be done with staying home, rest, fluids and controlling fever and cough when the symptoms are mild. Hopefully, this is done while being in touch with your healthcare provider by phone, or nowadays, telemedicine. When the infection is more severe, sometimes hospitalization is needed. There, oxygen levels, temperature, and other vital signs can be monitored, and IV fluids are given if required. There is no proven treatment to attack the virus, but some drugs are being tested. Unfortunately, medications against viruses are not magic, as anyone who has taken flu medications can attest.
Oxygen can be given through a relatively simple nasal tube, and finally, a ventilator may be needed. As life-saving as it can be, a ventilator can have high costs in suffering and complications, as well as in dollars. And there is a fear we will not have enough ventilators if we allow the pandemic to go on without enough prevention efforts.
If we can prevent our family members, friends or neighbors from becoming infected in the first place, it is so much better than for them to become ill and require treatment, as I describe above.
How do we prevent infection? We have all heard: stay home; if we go out for a walk or necessary food or medicine, stay six feet away from people.
Just talking with a person three feet away can infect them, and we may not know we have the virus until the fourth or fifth day after we get it; if we have to be closer than six feet to anyone not in our household, you, and they, in my opinion, should wear a mask; wash your hands frequently for 20 seconds, or use hand sanitizers, and keep surfaces clean.
What if we are visiting our grandmother? I would suggest we call on the phone instead, or if we need to visit, wear a mask, so our loved one doesn’t get infected with the virus we bring in before we develop any symptoms.
We are blessed to live in a community where we encourage, pray for, and provide for each other. Let’s do all these things from six feet away, and if we must get closer, wear a mask.
Jim Haaga, M.D.
Burnsville