The Novel Coronavirus: Cunning, Baffling and Powerful

by Amitabh Joshi 3 years ago Views 3041

There is evidence emerging that how the coronavirus infection affects people is varying from country to country and worse still, new symptoms are now being discovered.

The latest is a new study which states a skin rash could now most be likely an indication of COVID-19 infection or onset, especially among untested persons.


“Skin rashes cluster with other COVID-19 symptoms, are predictive of a positive swab test and occur in a significant number of cases, either alone or before other classical symptoms. Recognising rashes is important in identifying new and earlier COVID-19 cases”, states a study conducted by researchers at King’s College London and Zoe Global Ltd.

Then there’s the issue of blood clots. The Director of AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria, has recently gone on record to say that coronavirus patients have been found to suffer thickening of blood vessels and blood clotting, leading to squeezing of the oxygen supply to vital organs.

So is it a respiratory disease or a vascular disease? We just don’t know. What we do know is that the virus has killed over 573,000 in the world, including more than 24,000 in India.

As more research goes on, there’s now also an association established between coronavirus infection and possible neurological and neuropsychiatric illnesses say researchers at London’s King’s College and as also reported in the medical journal The Lancet. (The neurological damage could well be linked to clotting since oxygen supply to the brain is depleted). Some experts also believe the virus attacks the central nervous system.

Another research study by King’s College released on Monday gave evidence that antibodies to the virus were actually disappearing with time. In a clinical trial, a number of previously infected patients showed no signs of antibodies in their bloodstream after 3 months. This leaves the door of speculation wide open that a person could, possibly, be re-infected by the coronavirus.

On another front, plasma therapy treatment, which the Delhi government is heavily promoting, while effective in several cases, is also misleading the public into assuming it's a 'magic potion' against COVID-19.

“Once organ failure begins to set in, there is no chance for plasma therapy to be used. It is also difficult to assess at times whether patients have recovered from plasma therapy alone or from the cocktail of drugs, including remdesivir, being given to them in combination or separate from the therapy. It should not be seen as a silver bullet for all covid patients, especially for their families”, Dr. Rommel Tickoo, Associate Director, Internal Medicine, Max Healthcare, told GoNews

There is also evidence mounting that the virus triggers varying degrees of symptoms between countries themselves. People in the UK with coronavirus reported having diarrhoea almost 2.5 times more frequently than those from India, and a loss of taste and smell twice as frequently, according to a survey by Your.MD in collaboration with a project by UK’s NHS.

“Almost a third of UK residents reported loss of smell and taste, compared to only 1 in 12 in India and the same amount in the Philippines. While nearly half of those in the UK (45%) report experiencing shortness of breath as a symptom of COVID-19, just over a third (38%) of respondents in the Philippines, a fifth (20%) of people in India and a sixth (16%) of people living in Mexico experienced the symptom”, the survey stated.

There were up to 57,000 respondents in the global sample who had tested COVID-19 positive or had self-assessed definitive signs of the disease. Up to 44% of respondents from India reported fatigue as a symptom.

"It also really highlights that people are reporting big differences and variations in symptoms around the world. It is vitally important for us to continue collecting data on symptoms of COVID-19, particularly as there are so many unknowns about the clinical course of this illness”, said Your.MD's Chief Medical Officer and past chair of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Maureen Baker.

The data also stated that worldwide - fatigue, a sore throat and headaches are the three most common symptoms. Whatever the case, one thing’s for sure-The coronavirus is not going anywhere, anytime soon.

It also appears to be speaking to us in tongues- an enigma of a virus with no code of conduct.

 

 

Also Watch: Exclusive interview by GoNews' Sidharth Pandey with King's College Honorary Consultant Neurologist,  Dr. Jemeen Sreedharan, on coronavirus infection triggering possible neurological and neuropsychiatric illnesses:

Latest Videos

Latest Videos

Facebook Feed