A man from Chittoor district suffering from a urinary tract infection took his own life after he mistook his symptoms for those of coronavirus. Balakrishnayya, 54, from Thottambedu village visited the Ruia Government General Hospital on Saturday, 8 February, for a medical consultation.
According to his family members, miscommunication with the doctors led him to believe that he had coronavirus.
According to his son, the man went to Ruia hospital for a checkup, as his heart rate was high. The doctors told him about the problem ‘in their style’, his son said, but Balakrishnayya believed it was coronavirus.
“He didn’t have much awareness. He started to behave strangely on Saturday. And by Monday morning, he killed himself,” she said.
According to his son, Balakrishnayya had panicked immensely, and started to believe he was a threat to the family and the village
Balakrishnayya’s case seems to have been aggravated due to widespread misinformation on the disease, combined with insufficient measures by health officials in spreading awareness and calming people in such cases of false alarm.
His son said that the man saw a lot of videos on symptoms of coronavirus, and became convinced that he was affected. “I had made calls to contact those who could create awareness and help him. I called 1100, 108, 100 but did not get a proper response. In the future, please respond and spread awareness,” he said.
Chittoor District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr M Chenchulayya said that awareness programs are being held across the state.
“We are conducting meetings in hospitals, we have printed pamphlets and banners for every village with information regarding coronavirus. All the PHC doctors have also been provided with training and awareness, and funds for printing awareness pamphlets,” Chenchulayya added.
The coronavirus outbreak has been caused by a new strain of this virus. It belongs to the same family of viruses which cause SARS and MERS. The symptoms of an infection are very similar to that of a common cold: cough, cold, runny nose and fever.
There are two masks, the normal surgical masks are worn by patients/infected people to not spread the germs to others. The n95 mask is what is being recommended to keep yourself safe from accidentally inhaling or coming in contact with the virus in the air droplets.
(This story has been published in a partnership with TheNewsMinute)
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