Doctors in South Africa say patients with a new type of coronavirus, Omicron, have a “less severe” illness and are experiencing symptoms of coughing and mild fever.
According to a report published in the Times of India on Saturday, the onset of the epidemic showed milder symptoms in those affected by Omicron than in those of the Delta type.
Two weeks ago, South African scientists announced the identification of a new variant of the coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named Omicron for the sake of negotiation.
The first type of coronavirus to be identified in India, which had previously dominated the world, was called ‘Delta’. India has already said that 32 people have been infected with Omicron in five states, but the symptoms are mild.
Although the world is still dominated by delta-type coronaviruses, the transmission of omicron is on the rise in dozens of countries, the report said. South Africa is at the center of the infection.
The country’s doctor said. Anben Pillay said he treats dozens of covid patients daily. None of them have been hospitalized yet.
Although the new strain is spreading faster, doctors and experts believe that this is why omikron sufferers have more “mild symptoms” than delta.
Dr. about patients. “They can be cured at home,” said Pillai. Most recover in 10 to 14 days of isolation.
Among them, there are patients who are at risk of serious illness due to coronavirus due to old age and pre-existing health problems, he added.
Dr. highlighting the symptoms of the victims of the Delta type in the previous wave of the epidemic. “They had trouble breathing and low oxygen levels,” Pillay said. Many have been hospitalized in a few days. ”
The doctor said that now the patients who are being treated for Kovid are showing symptoms of mild fever like cough and body aches.
Pillay, director of an association of about 5,000 general practitioners across South Africa, said his colleagues had made similar observations about Omicron.
Dr. worked in Gauteng province where the outbreak of Omicron occurred. Bring Pillay. The most populous province of the country has a population of 16 million. The largest city is Johannesburg and the capital is Pretoria.
In the first week of December, the rate of new infections in Gauteng province increased by 400 percent. According to the test data given by the medical officers, 90 percent of them have been infected with Omicron.
The Times of India reports that several other doctors in South Africa have reported similar experiences since the introduction of a new type of coronavirus, Omicron.
But they all warned that they would have to wait a few more weeks for more information to be confirmed. Only a few clues have been found in their observations and early samples.
According to the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases:
In just a few weeks, only 30 percent of the patients admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 were seriously ill. At the same time, the number is less than half that of the previous epidemic.
This time the average time spent in the hospital is less than before. The previous type of time was 7 days and this time it has been reduced to 2.6 days.
Of the patients admitted to the hospital recently infected with Kovid-19, 3 percent have died. On the other hand, it was 20 percent during the pre-epidemic wave.
William Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute, citing data from the National Institute and other reports, said: “At the moment, virtually everything indicates that the symptoms are mild.
“It simply came to our notice then. Most of the time hospitalization and deaths happen later and we have been in this wave for only two weeks. ”
Scientists around the world are monitoring the number of infections and hospitalization rates while examining the effectiveness of conventional coronavirus vaccines and their treatment, the report said.
South Africa’s largest private medical services company, Netcare, also reported less severe symptoms in patients with Covid-19.
However, the report says, the number of infections in the country is increasing. South Africa confirmed 22,400 people were infected last Thursday and 19,000 on Friday.
Health Minister Joe Fahla said on Friday that 90,000 people had been infected with the new coronavirus in the past month.
According to various studies, 80 per cent of newly infected people across the country are infected with Omicron, he said.
He said a new wave of epidemics had infected 2.5 people. This rate is still the highest in South Africa.
“It’s such a contagious type of infection, we’re seeing an increase in infections that we’ve never seen before,” said Wasila Jasat, who works on hospital data verification for the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
He said that in the new wave of the epidemic, 6 percent of the patients admitted to the hospital did not get vaccinated. In addition, the number of young people among the hospitalized covid patients is higher. Two-thirds of them are under 40 years of age.
Hospitals in South Africa are overflowing with new infections, although early onset of symptoms of omikron is less serious; That is why the number of serious symptoms and deaths is also increasing.
“This is always a danger in the event of an epidemic,” said Wasila Jasat.
