CMO: No confirmed covid19 link to strokes

Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram says while there have been observations suggesting a link between covid19 infections increasing the risk of strokes, there was still no sufficient data to support such a link.

Speaking at a virtual media conference on Friday, Parasram said researchers were studying the epidemiology of covid19 and trying to understand its behaviour, including the full extent of its effects on the body.

Responding to reports in the US that suggested covid19 infections could cause strokes, he said while this was a significant observation, it was still being studied and he could not confirm it until sufficient data was gathered.

But he said, "What we are seeing is an increased risk of thrombotic events, meaning blood-clot formation, not only resulting in strokes but resulting in other events in different parts of the body, for example pulmonary embolism (blood clots blocking a blood vessel).

"So whatever new information is available to us we disseminate to our clinicians, once the data is valid data.

He said data could not be taken from a small number of people.

"It has to be real data that is statistically significant. Once that is the case we will pass it on to all of our clinicians so they are aware of the new information so they can adjust the treatment regimes to suit.

But as I said before the treatment of covid is really supportive thus far. There is no specific treatment for it by way of medication."

A report from CNN on Thursday, quoted doctors as saying covid19 appeared to be causing strokes in people in their 30s and 40s.

Dr Thomas Oxley, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, said five people, all under 50, had mild symptoms of covid19 and suffered strokes.

According to an update from the Ministry of Health at 4 pm on Friday, TT still had a total of 115 cases of covid19. Eight people have died from the virus, 48 recovered patients have been discharged from the State's care and 1,480 samples have been submitted to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for testing.