Mumbai doctors have recently seen Covid-19 patients with some unusual and newer symptoms that are not related to the respiratory system.
Though, most of the symptoms can be managed with the conservation Covid19 treatment when detected early.
A surgeon from Mumbai, Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala recently encountered four Covid cases where the patients came up with intestinal obstruction that is the blockage that prevents food or liquid from passing through the small or large intestine and all of them tested positive for Covid-19.
Adding the cases that were referred to him as intestinal obstruction often require surgical intervention, Lakdawala said, “The new coronavirus strains are showing varying gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal colicky pain, and even subacute intestinal obstruction. We need to remain cautious.”
Former KEM dean Dr. Avinash Supe, who also heads the city’s Covid death audit committee, concurred that doctors are seeing diarrhea as a recurrent symptom.
Among the four cases, there was one case related to a 37-year-old man who came to HN Reliance’s outpatient department complaining about mild abdominal pain and inability to pass stools. However, a mandatory Covid test was being conducted that found him to be positive and the patient was admitted to Seven Hills Hospital.
Hence, it was reported that he was treated with antivirals, said Dr. Pranav Mehrotra from Reliance Hospital, who diagnosed the case.
Intensivist Dr. Kedar Toraskar, also a member of the state task force, said many are reporting non-pulmonary involvements. “We have seen some come with frontal headaches. Often there is no high-grade fever,” he said.
He further said, “Although, a clear change is an infection affecting multiple members of a family together and the hospital’s Covid ward has 70 patients and the ICU is nearly full with Covid patients.
An infectious disease Dr. Tanu Singhal specialist from Kokilaben Hospital said, there is definitely a shift in the severity of the disease from the cases seen in 2020.
“In serious patients, we are seeing more involvement of the kidney. However, we are also observing that sick patients respond sooner. One indicator being their oxygen dependence, which comes down sooner,” she said.
