VIJAYAWADA: With coronavirus being still a comparatively new virus, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been updating the world with more and more symptoms noticed during its studies on COVID-19. Recently, the CDC added five new symptoms to the list, which include intense chills, headache, pink eye, loss of smell or taste and muscle pain.
While the common symptoms of coronavirus — cold, cough, high fever, breathlessness, respiratory problems, throat pain — have been made clear by now, there is one set of symptoms of coronavirus, which is not talked about in the State and probably in the country yet — gastrointestinal issues. Speaking to TNIE, R Ram, superintendent of SVIMS said though there has not been any sign of spread of this type of coronavirus so far, experts have predicted that there are chances of spread of this type during the monsoon season.
“Stomach related issues are anyway common during the monsoon. It may lead to sudden increase in cases during that season, and may be, gastric-coronavirus will then surface. Gastric symptoms may be recognised then,” he said. The symptoms of gastric-coronavirus, he explained, include anorexia (39.9 - 50.2 per cent), diarrhoea (2 - 49.5 per cent), vomiting (3.6 - 66.7 per cent), nausea (1 - 29.4 per cent), abdominal pain (2.2 - 6 per cent) and gastrointestinal bleeding (4 - 13.7 per cent).
“In this type, the common symptoms considered now are not noticed initially. The first 15 days, one suffers from either of the mentioned gastric symptoms and only after about 10 to 15 days, does one start getting cold, cough and other symptoms. Due to this, it is also difficult to diagnose if someone is affected with coronavirus or if it is just a stomach infection,” added Ram.
Though so far, no patient with these symptoms has been admitted to hospitals in Andhra Pradesh, the SVIMS Superintendent said that a few of the symptoms were noticed while treating patients kept in the Intensive Care Unit. Medication is not known for this type as there is not a single case yet. “For normal treatment itself, the medicine or vaccine is not available. It is very difficult to treat someone affected with this type. Like the current situation, where a certain pattern of paracetamol and other medicines are helping in treating patients, those suffering from gastrointestinal-coronavirus will also have to be given similar combination of medicines depending on which symptom is shown unless a vaccine for the same is found,” he explained.