The World Health Organization (WHO) has already warned that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading around three times faster than other variants known so far. India has already detected more than 200 cases of the Omicron variant. Considering this, the Centre has already asked state administrations to take all preventive measures to curb the spread of this highly transmissible variant. Authorities are concerned as this is variant is infecting even those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19. As the variant – which has already been classified as a ‘variant of concern’ by the WHO – was identified only last month, there is a lot that is still not known. However, doctors and medical practitioners have started noticing a very unusual symptom of the infection. This could be an important development as it would help doctors, as well as the common man, identify the new variant. So far the symptoms of the Omicron variant were predominantly similar to the common cold symptoms.
Unusual symptom of Omicron
According to health experts, the loss of appetite is one of the most surprising symptoms that they have noticed. Scientists have analysed symptom data of coronavirus positive patients recorded in study apps. When they compared the data with those from early October when the Delta variant of coronavirus was dominant, it was found that only around 50 per cent of those patients experienced the classic three symptoms. The analysis of data showed that loss of appetite is one of the unusual symptoms.
Most symptoms of Omicron are very similar to common cold symptoms. Some of them are:
- Sore throat or cough
- Fatigue
- Runny nose
- Congestion
- Headache
These symptoms are based on the study of the cases reported during the initial 10 of December in London.
Meanwhile, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has stated that so far they have no evidence on the transmissibility, immune evasion, or severity of the new variant of COVID-19. The central government has also stated that there is no proof that existing COVID-19 vaccines are not effective on the Omicron variant.