It’s the new Covid-19 variant that has put the world on edge, and a doctor treating some of the first patients discovered some rather strange symptoms.
It’s the new Covid-19 variant that has put the world on edge, and it turns out that Omicron has some unusual, though mild symptoms.
Dr Angelique Coetzee, the South African doctor who issued an alert about the Omicron variant B.1.1.529, said the symptoms are usually “mild” in healthy people.
However, she said she is concerned the elderly and unvaccinated could be at risk of complications.
Dr Coetzee believed she’d found a new strain of the virus when she began noticing Covid-19 patients at her practice in Pretoria were showing strange symptoms.
“Their symptoms were so different and so mild from those I had treated before,” she told the UK’s Telegraph.
Dr Coetzee, who has been practising for 30 years and is chair of the South African Medical Association (SAMA), said she called South Africa’s vaccine advisory committee on November 18 after a family of four with extreme fatigue tested positive to the virus.
She had treated more than 24 patients – mostly young men – test positive and show symptoms of the new variant, from different backgrounds and ethnicities. Half were unvaccinated.
“It presents mild disease with symptoms being sore muscles and tiredness for a day or two not feeling well,” Dr. Coetzee said.
“So far, we have detected that those infected do not suffer the loss of taste or smell. They might have a slight cough.
“There are no prominent symptoms. Of those infected some are currently being treated at home.”
None of her patients lost their sense of taste or smell.
There was a puzzling case of a six-year-old child with an extremely high pulse rate.
“We had one very interesting case, a kid, about six years old, with a temperature and a very high pulse rate, and I wondered if I should admit her,” Dr Coetzee says.
“But when I followed up two days later, she was so much better.”
She is concerned about how the elderly and those with co-morbidities will be affected by the new strain.
“What we have to worry about now is that when older, unvaccinated people are infected with the new variant, and if they are not vaccinated, we are going to see many people with a severe [form of the] disease,” she said.
The World Health Organisation declared Omicron a “variant of concern” on Friday after it was uncovered in southern Africa, with the strain showing a number of mutations that could make it more contagious than the Delta outbreak.
It was first detected in Botswana and South Africa earlier this month and has also been found in the UK, Israel, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Belgium. And as of Sunday afternoon, Australia has it too.
NSW Health has confirmed urgent genomic testing undertaken on Sunday shows two overseas travellers have been infected with the new Omicron B.1.1.529 Covid-19 variant of concern.
Both passengers came to Sydney from southern Africa on the evening of Saturday November 27. They underwent testing on arrival and tested positive for Covid-19 late last night.
The two positive cases, who were asymptomatic and fully vaccinated, are in isolation in the Special Health Accommodation.
The two passengers were among 14 people from southern Africa who arrived on Qatar Airways QR908, Doha to Sydney, which arrived around 7pm on Saturday November 27.
The remaining 12 passengers from southern Africa are undertaking 14 days of hotel quarantine in the Special Health Accommodation.
Around 260 passengers and aircrew on the flight are considered close contacts and have been directed to isolate.
The UN health agency said it could take several weeks to complete studies of the variant to see if there are any changes in transmissibility, tests and treatments.
While no Omicron cases have been detected in Australia, two cases have been confirmed in the United Kingdom and countries such as the US believe it’s already there, despite no confirmed cases yet.
On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and put a temporary halt on all elective surgeries in anticipation of hospitalisations.
With 32 mutations to its spike protein, Omicron is the most mutated form of the coronavirus found yet, and scientists have fears the mutations may allow it to evade vaccines and spread faster.
The Australian Government quickly announced new border security measures in response to Omicron and urged Australians to practice Covid-safe measures including good hand washing and cough and sneeze hygiene.
Originally published as Doctor shares the ‘unusual but mild symptoms’ of Omicron
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