With the second wave of COVD-19 yet to die down completely, doctors say that no symptom of illness or abnormality in health should be neglected.
In general, there is an understanding that the pandemic comes with symptoms such as fever, cough, headache and running nose. But any symptoms of diarrhoea should not be neglected, as the virus affects the GI (gastrointestinal) system in the body, said Principal of Andhra Medical College and District COVID Special Officer P.V. Sudhakar.
Giving details, Jasbir Makker of Bronx Care Health System, New York, said that there were cases where there were no general symptoms of COVID, but the patients were suffering from diarrhoea.
Apart from lungs and other other parts of the body, the SARS COV2 virus does affect the GI system and it has been scientifically proven, Dr. Makker said.
The GI ailments such as diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, anorexia, abdominal pain and acid reflux can crop up if a person is infected by the virus. The GI system can be affected any time from day 3 to 10, said Dr. Makker, who was addressing a webinar organised by Andhra Medical College.
While in China, the GI disorders were around 5.8%, in other parts of the world it was around 18.3%, he said.
According to Dr. Makker, GI problems is also being seen as a long haul COVID issue, after the pandemic.
He said that nutritious diet with lot of a fluid intake could help patients in the post COVID scenario.
61 new cases
Meanwhile, 61 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, ending Monday morning, in the district taking the cumulative tally to 1,54,344.
There were no deaths, keeping the death count to 1,066.
During the last 24 hours, 132 persons suffering from the virus were discharged or have recovered, taking the total discharges to 1,51,964.
The active cases as on Monday morning stand at 1,314.
