In addition to being more contagious, the Indian variant B.1.617.2 of the coronavirus, recently renamed “Delta” by the World Health Organization, could carry a greater risk of hospitalization. The preliminary assessments of Public Health England (PHE), the agency of the British Department of Health, which indicated a greater severity of the infection based on data relating to hospitalizations in England and Scotland, are added the new observations of doctors who in India are handling the devastating wave of Covid-19 backed by the new variant.
In particular, some symptoms that have not so far been commonly seen in Covid patients may be connected to the Delta variant, including hearing impairment, severe gastrointestinal upset, and blood clots that cause gangrene. “We need more scientific research to investigate whether these new clinical manifestations are associated with the variant or not Abdul Ghafur, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai, the largest city in southern India, told Bloomberg, explaining that he has a high number of patients suffering from diarrhea compared to the initial wave -. Last year, we thought we learned all about our new enemy, and instead it has changed. This virus has become like this…. so unpredictable”.
According to Indian doctors, among the symptoms observed in patients infected with the Delta variant, there are stomach pain, nausea, loss of appetite, hearing loss, joint pain and, in some cases, infection is followed by the development of microtrombi (or small blood clots) serious enough to cause death of the affected tissues and lead to gangrene, added Ganesh Manudhane, a Mumbai cardiologist who has treated eight Covid patients for thrombotic complications at Seven Hills Hospital in the past two months. two of which required the amputation of the fingers of one hand or one foot. “I observed three to four cases in all last year, and now we have one patient a week”Ha detto Manudhane.
Behind the increased frequency of these rare complications there could be the increase in cases of infection in the country, however Manudhane explained that he is “bewildered“From the recurrence of blood clots in patients of all age groups and with no previous problems related to clotting. “We suspect – He admitted – which may be due to the new variant of the virus”.
Doctors are also finding clots in blood vessels that supply the intestine and which, as the only symptom, could cause abdominal pain. In addition, some patients are seeking medical attention for hearing loss, swelling around the neck and severe tonsillitis, said Hetal Marfatia, an ENT surgeon at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. “Each person exhibits different symptoms“In the second wave, said the specialist.
These unusual manifestations of the infection are still being studied, and doctors are collecting data to understand why some patients show these clinical signs and others don’t. “In the meantime, it is important to take note and be aware of possible atypical manifestationsCommented Raina MacIntyre, lecturer in global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
To date, India has recorded 18.6 million cases of Covid-19 in 2021 compared to 10.3 million last year, and experts believe that “the main cause” is the spread of the Delta variant, which is estimated to be possible. being 50% more contagious than the Alpha (formerly British) strain that initially emerged in the UK. With the increase in transmission, there is also a growth in cases of mucormycosis, a rare opportunistic fungal infection, whose infections reach almost 9 thousand in Covid patients.