India Needs Its Equivalent Of Anthony Fauci, And NOW

India needs its own Anthony Fauci: On May 14, India registered 3,26,098 new cases of COVID-19 and 3890 recorded deaths due to the disease in the span of 24 hours. One of the many things that I have missed during this pandemic is an Indian version of United States' Dr Anthony Fauci, who gradually emerged as a voice to listen to when it came to the coronavirus. India is now battling a hard second wave of the disease. So where is our own Anthony Fauci?

Close to three weeks ago, my family became part of India's daily COVID-19 tally, with two members of my family testing positive for the disease. What began for us was a bitter sweet experience with healthcare system, which we are now analysing as the dust settles down and we are on our road to recovery. Sweet because we were fortunate enough to get out test results on time and proper medical attention. Bitter, because before we got to that point, we had to go through hiccups that could have had dangerous consequences for us as a family.

My husband was running a fever of 102 degree Fahrenheit constantly. We sought help from a local doctor. Two days later, my husband was admitted to a COVID hospital, under a different doctor, as his previous medications failed to improve his condition. Few days into his admission, they found blood clots in his sputum. Thankfully, he was under close observation, and eventually he was discharged. But we have been asked to closely monitor him for a few months. And as soon as he was released we had to keep a close eye on symptoms of mucormycosis etc.

Then last week, I came across a statement from AIIMS head Randeep Guleria, who said that use of steroids in early days of COVID-19 may be causing drop in oxygen levels among patients. "Taking steroids at the early stage can give more stimulus to virus replication. In many cases, mild cases are becoming severe and patients are reporting severe pneumonia. Steroids have no role in the first five days of illness. Guleria also advised against against CT scans and biomarker tests in case of mild symptoms. This was confirmed to us by a relative who is a radiologist.

My husband had two CT scans, he was given steroids, antibiotics among other things while being treated. Now I am asking myself, how many of these medications did more harm than good? Did he end up in hospital because the first doctor we visited put him on steroids, even before we had his test reports in our hands?

There were so many  times in those ten days when I would simply go blank, not because I was scared, but because I had to clue what was going on, and what course of action was correct and what wasn't. Should I get my husband admitted to a hospital or not? Should I give him Ivermectin, antibiotics and steroids or not? When was the right time to start FabiFlu? Should I start making arrangements for Remdesivir or wait for a few more days?

If steroids were doing more harm than good in patients during early days of infection, then why were so many doctors still prescribing it? COVID-19 has been around for more than a whole damn year, then why do we not have national guidelines for treating it, which clearly state which medicine is to be used for treatment and when? Why is COVID treatment varying like the crop of rice for every region in our country?

Turns out, you only know what mess you are in store for, when you end up between the grinds of India's healthcare system. I was privileged enough to have a support system of relatives and friends with medical background. I can read and have been going through several reports on COVID-19 treatment for the past year. And yet, this is where I ended up- confused and on the verge of a mental breakdown. We still don't know what we have in store for us in coming few months. All we can do is monitor symptoms closely and take as much care as possible.

I cannot even imagine how those who do not have my privileges are dealing with the situation. A friend of mine told me how all of his relatives procured a prescription for CT scan and got it done, even when they had not been advised to do so. I have heard countless tales of COVID-19 management at home gone horribly wrong, because people thought "ghar par manage kar lenge". While we are looking at daily reported cases and  number of daily deaths, we also need to have a closer look at what COVID-19 and the treatment is doing to bodies of those who survive it.

Where Is Our Fauci?

If only we had an authority, a sane, aware, non-political voice, that would tap into numerous researches being done on COVID-19 and experiences of our corona warriors, to officially give us directives on dealing with COVID-19. While politicians were neck deep peddling their agenda, while movie stars were busy holidaying in Maldives, while bureaucracy was busy decorating COVID wards and oxygen plants for opening ceremony and high profile inspections, this voice could have braved cameras, taken a stand and given India and its healthcare community a real time check on the situation.

Anthony Fauci, who has served as director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for thirty-six years, had to brave a loud-mouth head of the nation who refused to take the pandemic seriously. For context, the then US President Donald Trump has called the pandemic wave "flu season' in October last year, despite himself having tested positive for the disease due to which he was admitted to a Maryland hospital. This was what Fauci had to deal with. And yet he was persistent. In December last year, incoming president Joe Biden asked Anthony Fauci to join his administration as chief medical advisor. He accepted. He continues to do what he was doing under Trump administration, albeit with much more ease now.

India needs someone just like him, who could brave political storms and bureaucracy  to ensure that whatever needs to be said is said out loud and clear. Who can be our surgeon general? As citizens, COVID has shown that a country's medical plans, pandemics must be led by a person who known what we are dealing with.

Perhaps that is the only way to control the damage done by misinformation among citizens and healthcare community.

The views expressed are the author's own.