‘Covid symptoms are masked, endangering others’
BENGALURU:
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has urged the Centre to permit the sale of anti-pyretic drugs only on a precription till the Covid-19 crisis ends.
In a letter sent on Monday to Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, he said he had heard from
health experts and health officials that many people are consuming anti-pyretic drugs to hide flu-like symptoms and not reporting it to doctors.
He said antipyretic and H1 anti-histamine drugs are available over-the-counter in most medical stores. “The consumption of such drugs temporarily hides flu-like symptoms in the body. It may be only after a couple of days that a potential Covid-19 positive individual would show the other symptoms of the infection, by which time he or she would have put many others at risk, ” the letter says.
“In this regard, I urge the government to take all possible action to track the sale of theabove drugs and make it a Schedule H1 drug. I urge the government to restrict the sale ofover-the-counter drugs until the pandemic is brought under control and mandate therequirement of a doctor’s prescription for the sale of anti-pyretic and H1 anti-histamine drugs, ” the letter adds.
