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Hearing problems, severe stomach ailments, and blood clots that cause gangrene, symptoms that are not common in COVID-19 patients, are associated by Indian doctors with the so-called Delta variety.
In England and Scotland, preliminary data suggest that the strain, which now dominates there, carries an increased risk of hospitalization.
The delta strain of the coronavirus, also known as B.1.617.2, has spread to more than 60 countries in the past six months, leading to travel restrictions in several countries, from Australia to the United States. An increase in infections fed by the Delta strain has forced the UK to reconsider its plans to open in late June, a local report suggesting such plans should be postponed for two weeks. Easier infection and lower vaccine efficacy suggest that it is now particularly important to elucidate the effects and consequences of this strain.
“We need more research to understand whether these newer clinical symptoms are related to B.1.617 or not,” said Abdul Ghafur, an infectious disease specialist at the Apollo Institute in Chennai, the largest city in southern India. Mr. Ghafur acknowledges that there are now many more COVID patients with symptoms of diarrhea than during the initial pandemic wave.
“New enemy”
“Last year it seemed like we knew our new enemy, but that has changed,” Ghafur said. “This virus has become completely unpredictable.”
Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hearing loss, and joint pain are the full range of symptoms that COVID-19 patients experience, according to six doctors treating patients in India. Beta and Gamma strains, first identified in South Africa and Brazil, respectively, rarely or do not cause unusual clinical symptoms, according to a study published by researchers at the University of New South Wales in May.
In some patients, the formation of microthrombi, or tiny blood clots, is so severe that it kills the affected tissues and leads to gangrene, said Ganesh Manudhane, a cardiologist from Mumbai who has treated eight patients with thrombosis at Seven Hospital. Hills in the last two months. Two of them had to have their toes or feet amputated.
“I’ve seen three or four such cases in the last year, and now I’m dealing with at least one of those patients a week,” Manudhane said.
© Zuma Press / Scanpix
Confusing cases of thrombi
India has reported 18.6 million jobs so far in 2021. COVID-19 cases, compared to 10.3 million. last year. The Delta strain was the “root cause” that caused an even deadlier second wave in the country and is 50 percent. more contagious than the Alpha variant, first detected in the UK, according to a recent study by an Indian government think tank.
The jump in cases may have led to more frequent rare complications of COVID-19. And yet Mr. Manudhane is concerned that blood clots occur in patients of different ages who have not previously had clotting problems.
“We suspect this may be due to this new strain of the virus,” he said. Manudhane is collecting data to help identify why some people clot and others don’t.
Doctors are also seeing examples of clots that form in the blood vessels that supply blood to the intestine, causing patients to experience abdominal pain, the only symptom, local media reported.
Last year it seemed like we knew our new enemy, but it has changed. This virus has become completely unpredictable.
Abdul Ghafur, Infectious Disease Specialist
Some COVID-19 patients also see doctors for hearing loss, swelling around the neck or severe tonsillitis, said Hetal Marfatia, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
During the second wave, “everyone has different symptoms,” said the surgeon.
“Atypical symptoms”
Unusual symptoms of being infected with Delta or another closely related strain known as kappa, which has undergone a fourth quarantine in Melbourne, Australia, have yet to be confirmed, said Raina MacIntyre, professor of global biosafety at New York University. . South Wales in Sydney.
“In the meantime, it is important to pay attention to this and be aware of possible atypical symptoms,” he said.
The most concerning aspect of the current outbreak in India is the rapid transmission of the virus, including to children, said Chetan Mundada, a pediatrician working for the Yashoda Hospital Group in Hyderabad.
Entire families
Ghafur, an infectious disease specialist at the Apollo Institute, observed entire families with symptoms of COVID-19, in contrast to last year, when symptoms were primarily individual, meaning the Delta strain was spreading more rapidly between households. .
Cases of mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection, are also increasing in India. May 22 It has infected more than 8,800 patients with COVID, prompting local health officials to declare the epidemic.
And while the outbreak in India is beginning to subside, the number of daily infections has dropped to less than a quarter, recorded on May 7. – The Delta strain is causing outbreaks in other countries, including so far called “virus havens” such as Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam.
In such a situation, governments are urged to carry out mass vaccinations.
German politician and scientist Karl Lauterbach said Tuesday that the variety is likely to spread further in Germany in the coming months.
“In my opinion, it is completely unrealistic to avoid this,” he wrote on Twitter in German. “The deciding factor here is a very fast vaccination, which reduces mortality.”
However, there is evidence that Delta and at least one other strain can avoid vaccine-induced antibodies, putting pressure on drug companies to improve vaccines or develop new ones.
“New vaccines need to be developed with the new strains in mind,” Ghafur said. “We cannot ignore the virus, but at least we can keep up.”
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