The second wave of Coronavirus comes with symptoms that range from pain in the abdomen to bleeding from the nose and pneumonia.
‘’In the second wave, the more common symptoms are stomach upset, nausea, pain in the abdomen and eyes, red eyes, etc. This is different from the previous wave when fever, cough and body ache were mainly the symptoms. In some cases, pneumonia is a major symptom, especially in adults. They may be tested negative but a CT scan finds their lungs infected,’’ said Dr Dr Gauri Agarwal gynaecologist and fertility specialist at Seeds of innocence in New Delhi.
Symptoms like sore throat, cough and loss of taste and smell were common in the first wave. Apart from those symptoms, many new symptoms are observed in individuals affected during the second wave, observes Dr. Monalisa Sahu, consultant, infectious diseases at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad. ‘’These new symptoms include rashes, bluish discoloration of the fingers and toes, bleeding from the nose, confusion state and brain fog.’’
‘’We are also seeing a lot more drastic drop in oxygen levels, including happy hypoxia that may cause death if external oxygen supply is not immediately available, ‘’says Agarwal. ‘’Many pregnant women who are tested positive are experiencing this sudden drop in oxygen level, and it can be particularly threatening to the health of a pregnant woman. Though there is no evidence that the virus can undergo a vertical transmission, like HIV, these women are particularly at risk of preterm delivery and other labour-related emergencies,’’’ she added.
The second wave is seeing a lot more symptomatic cases. ‘’This is true even for children (albeit mild) which is in stark contrast to the first wave where children practically escaped unscathed,’’ says Trupti Gilada, Infectious Disease Specialist, Masina Hospital, Mumbai. The second wave symptoms can be very confusing. ‘’Sometimes these are not associated with fever and therefore people often fail to suspect Covid and isolate, therefore continuing to transmit the infection,’’ adds Gilada.
