New Delhi, July 5
A centennial man from Delhi, who was four years old during the 1918 Spanish flu, survived COVID-19 and recovered faster than his son, in his 70s, at a dedicated COVID-19 facility here, doctors said.
The 106-year-old patient (name withheld), a resident of Old Delhi, was released from the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital (RGSSH) recently after recovering, they said.
His wife, son and another family member, who were also infected with COVID-19, have recovered, the doctors said.
The man was taken to RGSSH, a dedicated city government COVID-19 facility in eastern Delhi, in mid-April and released in early May, a senior doctor said.
When asked about the details of his wife and the other family member, the doctor just said, “The 106-year-old man and his 70-year-old son had recovered at our hospital, but the other two had recovered at another COVID facility. ” . “
Another senior doctor told PTI: “Perhaps, he is the first reported case of COVID-19 in Delhi that also went through the dreaded 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that, like COVID-19, had also devastated the world.” . “And he not only recovered from COVID-19, he recovered faster than his son, who is also very old,” said the doctor.
The Spanish flu was a pandemic that hit the world 102 years ago and affected almost a third of the world population at that time.
“The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is no universal consensus on where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919, “according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States.
A member of the centennial man’s family, who did not wish to be identified, said: “At his age of 106, he defeated the coronavirus and was a child during the Spanish flu. He is a crown warrior, and he is doing well now.
According to experts, the situation during the Spanish flu pandemic was very similar to the current situation of COVID-19, with instructions issued on social distancing, orders to stay home and the use of prescribed masks.
In the United States, it was first identified on military personnel in the spring of 1918. It is estimated that about 6.75,000 deaths occurred in the United States, the CDC said.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the 1918-1919 pandemic called the Spanish flu was particularly virulent and killed some 40 million people worldwide.
In India, the disease is believed to have been brought by soldiers who returned from the conflicts of the First World War.
The first cases of the Spanish flu were reported in areas that are the main ports of entry, such as Mumbai (then Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi and Chennai (Madras), where a large number of people returned from abroad.
The death toll in India from the Spanish flu is believed to be almost a fifth of the total deaths in the world, although the mortality statistics in India are too broad and questionable.
RGSSH doctors were surprised to see this centennial patient recover from the new coronavirus, despite the fact that he was highly vulnerable to infection.
“We do not know if he was affected by the Spanish flu or not. We haven’t seen much documentation on the situation in regards to Delhi, but very few hospitals were there at the time. It is surprising that this 106-year-old boy has demonstrated the willpower to survive, “said a senior doctor who oversaw his situation.
But what is more interesting is that he recovered faster than his son. So, he lived through the Spanish flu and now he survived COVID-19. Therefore, he lived through two pandemics, he said.
“RGSSH has treated more than 1,000 patients with COVID-19 so far, and Monday is marking the milestone with a symbolic event in which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain are scheduled to participate, “hospital authorities said. .
Delhi registered 2,244 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the count in the city to 99,444, while the number of deaths from the disease rose to 3,067, authorities said.
The national capital is currently the most affected city in the country by the pandemic.
According to Sunday’s bulletin, 71,339 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far. PTI
