COVID-19: What is happy hypoxia and why is it dangerous?

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Several COVID-19 patients, who appear seemingly fine, are being diagnosed with silent hypoxia or happy hypoxia. The medical condition, which has been found to be more prevalent among the youth, does not manifest itself like general hypoxia.

Patients suffering from happy hypoxia are able to walk and talk with ease. Their blood pressure, pulse readings also come in the normal range, even though their oxygen levels might have dipped well below 80 percent in most cases.

What is Hypoxia? How is it different from Happy Hypoxia?

Hypoxia is a medical condition that causes oxygen levels to drop below the average mark, which is 94 percent and above in healthy individuals. It occurs in COVID-19 patients when their lungs’ capacity to absorb and transfer oxygen is reduced or when the blood vessels are unable to circulate blood properly in the body.

The oxygen saturation level or SPO2 level can be measured using an oximeter, which has become a household medical equipment in the wake of the pandemic outbreak that is primarily causing severe respiratory distress.

When O2 levels drop in a patient, it can adversely affect vital organs such as the brain, lungs, heart, and kidney. The condition usually results in severe headache and shortness of breath.

However, in many patients, the symptoms did not manifest themselves until it was already too late. Such a condition is called happy hypoxia, as the patient remains oblivious to the lung’s incapacity to regulate oxygen flow in the body.

An India Today report quoted Dr Rajkamal Choudhry, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Bhagalpur, as saying: “This is a serious condition among Covid-19 patients. In my estimate, up to 30 percent of Covid-19 patients needing hospitalisation have had happy hypoxia.”

The doctor further said that in some cases of happy hypoxia, the oxygen level had even dropped to 20-30 percent and it has been one of the main causes of deaths among coronavirus patients.

Many health experts are of the opinion that happy hypoxia has contributed to the sharp increase in COVID-19 deaths among younger people during the second wave of the pandemic.

How to prevent Happy Hypoxia?

Aside from regularly monitoring oxygen saturation levels using an oximeter, one can look out for manifest symptoms such as discolouration of skin and lips and unnecessary profuse sweating to identify happy hypoxia. In case the oxygen saturation level drops below 90 percent, the patient must be taken to a hospital immediately.

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