Actor Puneeth Rajkumar’s untimely death has led to a sudden spurt in number of people visiting hospitals for a cardiac check-up.
The State-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Mysuru has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of people visiting the facility on KRS Road from different parts of Mysuru and nearby districts ever since Puneeth died on Friday.
The hospital’s emergency saw many as 190 people coming in with complaints like chest pain and shoulder pain on Sunday. The ER receives a maximum of 70 persons a day. But, during the 24 hours preceding 3 p.m. on Sunday, a total of 190 people came in for an emergency check-up, said sources in the hospital. The number rushing to the hospital at night too increased. Between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., the ER would normally receive around 20-25 persons. But, the number reached 98 between 8 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sunday, sources added.
“We have had some doctors from K.R. Hospital and Ayurvedic Hospitals visit us for a check-up”, a source added while attributing most of the complaints to the psychological impact of the media coverage of the widely popular actor’s unexpected demise.
A boy, 13, from Pandavapura in Mandya district, who complained of chest pain, was also rushed to the hospital by his father on Sunday. However, in most of the cases, the ECG and other cardiac tests yielded normal results. The doctors sent visitors away with medicine for acidity and normal pain.
However, no such rush was seen in the Outpatient Department (OPD), which receives around 800 patients every day. “But, the emergency is so flooded with people that the emergency itself was looking like the OPD,” a source at the hospital remarked.
The number of people inquiring at diagnostic centres and hospitals for cardiac-related checks too had increased since Puneeth’s demise. Many diagnostic centres and hospitals offered a number of options including packages covering a range of cardiac tests.
