COVID, presenting a new symptom - Urinary Tract Infection

Every wave of covid seems to be throwing up a new surprise in terms of infections. In the latest bout of covid, doctors are seeing patients reporting urinary tract infection as one of the symptoms of covid. Apart from the typical symptoms of fever, cold and cough, many patients testing positive for COVID-19 these days are also reporting urinary tract infection (UTI), pain and extreme weakness, said city-based doctors.

“We are seeing a lot of co-infections, especially urinary infections, among patients. In some cases, the UTI is more pronounced than the covid-19 infection itself,” said Dr Ashish Chauhan, a general physician. He added: “There are others walking in with a positive report but not showing any typical symptoms. We are not running tests unless the symptoms are severe or the patients have comorbidities.”

Hinting at the possibility of a H3N2 and COVID-19 infection together, some doctors have also advised that people should get the flu vaccine especially if they have missed a COVID-19 vaccine. Unexplained and prolonged malaise, memory loss, fluctuations in blood pressure and irritability are other issues being reported among COVID-19 patients.

“Worsening of existing comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiac issues and hypertension might become more pronounced in some cases,” said a senior doctor from a government hospital, citing the case of a hypertensive patient reporting massive fluctuations in blood pressure.

Incidentally, in the last two weeks, a chunk of COVID-19 cases sent for genome sequencing have turned out to be carrying the XBB.1.16. In fact, XBB variant cases are driving the covid surge in Karnataka. Between January and December 2022, the share of XBB variants was a mere 1.66 per cent in Karnataka. But, between January and March 2023, the share of these cases has jumped to 92.3 per cent.

The Centre has asked Karnataka to conduct a mock drill in hospitals to check the preparedness. The eight states where the maximum number of COVID cases is being reported currently are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Increase in deaths

Bengaluru which had not seen a covid death for many months has seen three deaths in this month. Surprisingly, if we look at the age of the deceased, one of the victims was a 32-year-old and the other who died on Wednesday was a 42-year-old. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said that they were not holding talks with experts to check why there was an increase in COVID deaths. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday said he had asked all the states including Karnataka to ensure the availability of beds and health workers to deal with the viral surge.

On Thursday, Karnataka reported 111 cases including 67 in Bengaluru. A 65 year old man died of COVID in Dharwad.