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Dr.Sumanth
Dr.Sumanth, Doctor (MD)
Category: Medical
Satisfied Customers: 19766
Experience:  Consultant Pediatrician at Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital
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Dr Sumanth please

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Dr Sumanth please
Dr.Sumanth

Thank you for requesting me here, please ask.

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
Hello. We talked about my husband yesterday.He still has afever of 38.
What worries me is the oxygen. It keeps dipping to 93 or 92 for a minute or so but then goes back to 94 or 95, sometimes 96.He feels fine apart from a cough and sore throat and mild headache

  1. Is there any rash over the body?
  2. Is there any decreased oral intake?
  3. Is he dull when in high grade fever and moving around when the fever touches the baseline?
  4. Apart from fever - what are the other symptoms he is experiencing like - body pains/ rash (can you upload an image please)/ joint pains/ sore throat/ urinary symptoms/ diarrhea/ nausea etc?
  5. Is there any respiratory distress or fast breathing and difficulty in having food?
  6. Are there any urinary symptoms...kindly elaborate like burning urination/ frequent urination?

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
no other issues apart from what I said

Then we can wait and I feel he is going through a viral illness and he will recover.

Please do remember the red flags signs explained

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
is it okay for the oxygen to dip like that? I am worried about silent hypoxia. he says he feels fine and would not know there was an issue with his oxygen without the meter

No please, do not worry in a well man without other symptoms and even if it is silent hypoxia if it is only now it can happen in viral illness.

Can you get a pulse oximeter at a pharmacy or store there?

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
we do have one!! that's how i know his numbers.
Customer: replied 17 days ago.
what do you mean that it can happen in a viral illness?

Then better correlate it with a local clinic one.

Occasional dipping of numbers can happen in fever due to differential blood circulation due to raised body heat sometimes.

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
what do you mean, better correlate it??
i could not have known the oxygen level without our monitor. did you think those figures were from a clinic??
What I meant was that we have to check the saturation in your own pulse oximeter and at the same time do it at a hospital clinically used pulse oximeter and then see if there is any difference.
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Yes I thought you have checked them at a local provider.

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
No that was the whole point of my question yesterday. I was asking if it was safe for him NOT to be seen by a doctor. does this change your recommendation?

No it would not change as the saturation has not been lower than 92 - 94 consistently for more than 30 minutes.

Occasional dipping need not be worried about please.

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
thank you

You are welcome and I am here to help if you have any concerns about him in this regard.

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
thank you. I probably will!

You are welcome!

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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
sorry; what if it was covid? would the numbers be a worry then? I read that covid can cause silent hypoxia
Even if it's COVID -19 I would worry only if it's consistently less for 30 minutes.
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Customer: replied 17 days ago.
thank you again
You are welcome
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