MUMBAI: Reduced hearing, dry mouth, throbbing headache, and conjunctivitis are some of the more recent symptoms that are increasingly seen in patients with Covid-19. Members of the Covid-19 state working group urged doctors to suspect Covid even in cases where there are no distinctive signs of cough, sore throat and shortness of breath.
Listing some of the evolving symptoms, Dr. Rahul Pandit, a member of the Covid working group, said hearing difficulty, conjunctivitis, extreme weakness, dry mouth and reduced saliva secretion, long-lasting headache and rashes could also be signs of Covid-19. “Although the disease has been around for 17 months, the most recent symptoms continue to evolve and we need to watch for them,” he said in an online conference chaired by CM Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday.
Globally, there are few documented cases of Covid-19-associated neurosensory hearing loss. An inflammation of the auditory nerve or a clot caused by the viral infection could affect the ear just as it affects the sense of smell, said Dr. Samir Bhargava, head of OR at RN Cooper Hospital. “But, we have not seen any exponential jump in case of sudden hearing loss, although we are alert, as viral infections are known to cause this,” he said, adding that these patients need treatment with steroids. .
Dr Sanjay Oak, chair of the working group, said that during the second wave driven by the Delta variant, most only showed gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Even fever can be present in different forms, he said. Some do not have a fever, others get it in sudden bursts, others at intervals of two to three days, while in many it only decreases completely to return with severity. “The fever profile could be very varied,” he said.
Listing some of the evolving symptoms, Dr. Rahul Pandit, a member of the Covid working group, said hearing difficulty, conjunctivitis, extreme weakness, dry mouth and reduced saliva secretion, long-lasting headache and rashes could also be signs of Covid-19. “Although the disease has been around for 17 months, the most recent symptoms continue to evolve and we need to watch for them,” he said in an online conference chaired by CM Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday.
Globally, there are few documented cases of Covid-19-associated neurosensory hearing loss. An inflammation of the auditory nerve or a clot caused by the viral infection could affect the ear just as it affects the sense of smell, said Dr. Samir Bhargava, head of OR at RN Cooper Hospital. “But, we have not seen any exponential jump in case of sudden hearing loss, although we are alert, as viral infections are known to cause this,” he said, adding that these patients need treatment with steroids. .
Dr Sanjay Oak, chair of the working group, said that during the second wave driven by the Delta variant, most only showed gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Even fever can be present in different forms, he said. Some do not have a fever, others get it in sudden bursts, others at intervals of two to three days, while in many it only decreases completely to return with severity. “The fever profile could be very varied,” he said.