'Happy hypoxia' among COVID-19 positive patients in Assam

GUWAHATI: 'Happy hypoxia' resulting in some fatalities among COVID-19 positive patients in Assam, is a new challenge for doctors treating the virus-infected persons.

"Happy hypoxia has become a condition that many doctors involved in treatment of the COVID-19 positive patients cannot fully understand and detect the same in time. The patient seems perfectly healthy and normal, could be even walking around without any apparent discomfort or talking to others. But there is just not enough oxygen in the blood among such patients; and that leads to the catastrophic heart failure. This little understood medical condition has acquired the self-contradictory name of 'Happy hypoxia, said a doctor of the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH).

He further stated that under normal circumstances when the levels of blood oxygen fall resulting in hypoxia, the body responds to the rising carbon dioxide levels resulting in shortness of breath with even patients losing consciousness.

"But undetected hypoxia appears to be one of the specialties of coronavirus. Unless doctors are looking out for it, the patient appears quite normal in many ways until the cardiac failure occurs," the doctor said, adding that the recent deaths of a senior ophthalmologist of GMCH, an Assam Police person and a few others were due to the 'Happy hypoxia' condition. Most of such fatalities in Assam were asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients.

Another doctor said that COVID-19 infected individuals with extremely low blood-oxygen levels are as comfortable as one can be with an illness. "These patients are seen scrolling on their phones, and talking to doctors normally. Clinicians have called them 'Happy hypoxics'," he said.

Renowned child specialist Dr JN Sharma said a pulse oximeter comes in very handy to monitor the oxygen-saturation level as it can pick up the hypoxia syndrome very early. "Since COVID-19 is a predominant infection of the respiratory system, it results in impaired oxygenation of the blood. Hypoxia can be fatal in most cases," Dr Sharma added.

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