The SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 pandemic and challenges in stroke care in India

• Published in: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Vol. 1473; no. 1; pp. 3 - 10
• Main Authors: Sylaja, P. N., Srivastava, M. V. Padma, Shah, Sudhir, Bhatia, Rohit, Khurana, Dheeraj, Sharma, Arvind, Pandian, Jeyaraj D., Kalia, Kiran, Sarmah, Deepaneeta, Nair, Sruthi S., Yavagal, Dileep R., Bhattacharya, Pallab
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-08-2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - therapy; Developing countries; Health care; Health care access; Health Services Needs and Demand - trends; Humans; India; India - epidemiology; LDCs; management; pandemic; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Public health; Rehabilitation; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Stroke; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke - therapy; Telemedicine; Telemedicine - methods; Telemedicine - trends; United States; United States - epidemiology; United States; India; COVID-19; telemedicine; SARS-CoV-2; United States; management; pandemic; stroke; public health; India
• ISSN: 0077-8923; 1749-6632
• DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14379

Stroke care in India has evolved rapidly in the last decade with a focus on stroke awareness, prevention, rapid triage, treatment, and rehabilitation. But acute stroke care and poststroke rehabilitation in the country have limitations owing to the economic constraints and poor access to health care. The SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 pandemic has made stroke care even more challenging. We outline the unfavorable circumstances in stroke care induced by the pandemic; propose mitigating measures; crisis management; and provide a comparative evaluation of stroke care between India and the United States during the pandemic. There is a need for public health systems in both developed and developing countries to improve awareness, implement proper strategies of triage, acute treatment, well‐defined rehabilitation plans, telemedicine services, and virtual check‐ins.
We outline the unfavorable circumstances in stroke care induced by the SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 pandemic, propose mitigating measures, crisis management, and provide a comparative evaluation of stroke care between India and United States during the pandemic.