A 106-year old man from Delhi, who had witnessed the 1918 Spanish Flu when he was four, has won the battle against COVID-19 and recovered faster than his son, in his 70s, at a dedicated coronavirus facility here, doctors said.
The 106-year-old patient was discharged from the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) recently after recovering, where his wife, son and another loved one also recuperated after contracting the novel coronavirus infection, they said.
“Perhaps, he’s the primary reported case of COVID-19 in Delhi who also went through the dreaded Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 which like COVID-19 had also ravaged the planet . And, he not only recovered from COVID-19, he recovered faster than his son, who is additionally very old,” a senior doctor.
Spanish Flu was an epidemic which hit the planet 102 years ago and affected nearly one-third of the worldwide population at that point .
“The 1918 influenza pandemic was the foremost severe pandemic in recent history. it had been caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there’s no universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919,” consistent with the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) within the US.
In the US, it had been first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. it’s estimated that about 6,75,000 deaths occurred in America, it said.
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, the pandemic of 1918-1919 called the Spanish Flu was particularly virulent and killed an estimated 40 million people worldwide.
In India, the disease is believed to possess been brought in by the soldiers coming back from war I conflicts.
The first cases of Spanish Flu were reported in areas which are major ports of entry, like Mumbai (then Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi and Chennai (Madras), where an outsized number of individuals returned from abroad.
The casualty count in India from the Spanish Flu is believed to be nearly one-fifth of the whole fatalities within the world, though the statistics for mortality in India are too wide-ranging and debatable.
Doctors at the RGSSH, a fanatical COVID-19 facility were amazed to ascertain the recovery of this centenarian patient from the novel coronavirus, albeit he was highly susceptible to the infection.
“We do not know whether he was suffering from the Spanish Flu or not. we’ve not seen much documentation on things some time past as far as Delhi cares , but only a few hospitals were there at that point . it’s amazing this 106-year-old showed the desire power to survive,” a senior doctor, who monitored his situation, said.
But, what’s more, interesting is that he recovered faster than his son, who is in his 70s. So, he lived through the Spanish Flu and now survived COVID-19, hence, he lived through two pandemics, he said.
Notably, his wife and another loved one also had contracted COVID-19, and have successfully recovered a few month-and-a-half ago., the doctor said.
The RGSSH has treated 1,000 COVID-19 patients so fare, and on Monday it’s marking the milestone with a symbolic event where Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain are slated to participate.
Delhi recorded 2,505 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the tally within the city to over 97,000-mark, while the price from the disease mounted to three ,004, authorities said.
The capital , at the present , is that the worst-COVID-19-hit city across India.
According to the COVID-19 health bulletin, 68,256 patients are recovered, or discharged or migrated thus far .
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