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In a major development, doctors who have been treating COVID-19 patients in Indore have said that a more lethal strain of the virus might be claiming lives in the city.
To get clarity on their apprehensions of a deadlier virus strain, the doctors have also said that they will be sending Indore samples from to Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV)
"We have a feeling the strain is definitely more virulent in Indore belt. We have discussed this with the NIV and will be sending samples for them to compare by extraction of virus genome," said Jyoti Bindal, Dean of Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College, reported NDTV.
Hinting at the sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases being reported from the state, she said that patients turning up at the hospitals late for testing and treatment could be another possibility for high fatality rate.
Director of the School of Excellence in Pulmonary Medicine, Jitendra Bhargava while expressing similar concerns opined that Indore's high mortality rate needs to be thoroughly investigated implementing viral culture and Ribonucleic acid (RNA) extraction.
He reiterated the observation that the mortality rate is high in those patients who had one or more additional conditions along with a primary condition which could be cardiac or renal problems or diabetes and hypertension besides other immunity-based conditions.
"The novel coronavirus is posing a big challenge due to multiple strains. This will make the development of a universal vaccine much more difficult," he said.
Madhya Pradesh with 2,096 confirmed coronavirus cases ranks fourth in the list of all states maximum hit by the deadly virus.
Among the total people infected as on date, 210 have recovered and 99 have died.
144 new COVID-19 cases have been reported, as of now, on April 26 in the state, reveals data by the Union Health Ministry.
