Omicron-hit had sore throat, body ache, didn’t lose smell

MUMBAI: Slightly itchy throat, fatigue, body ache and mild fever were some of the main symptoms experienced by the patients treated at the SevenHills Hospital for the Omicron variant.

The Andheri hospital, dedicated to cases of the new variant, has handled 14 patients till now. Thirteen have been discharged.

Of the 14 cases, eight were asymptomatic. “Among those with symptoms, most complained of sore throat, tiredness and body ache,” said one of the treating doctors, adding there was no disease progression in any. The HRCT scans of all the patients remained practically unchanged, meaning there was no lung involvement. Most could be treated with basic fever and pain medication such as paracetamol, while asymptomatic patients were given multivitamins.

Across Maharashtra, 32 Omicron cases have been reported. Dr Pradeep Awate, state surveillance officer, said 50% didn’t have a single symptom.

The rest had mild fever on Day 1, runny nose, and fever with cough. Interestingly, anosmia or loss of smell that has been considered a marker of Covid-19 was not seen in any of the Omicron patients, said Awate. Of the 32 infected, 25 (78%) were vaccinated and five were minors.

The two unvaccinated individuals didn’t see any major symptoms either. One of them, a Nagpur resident, was a case of reinfection. The man suffered mild illness even during the last bout.

The SevenHills physician said it would be premature to comment on the severity of Omicron as the cases they have encountered are few and among fully vaccinated young people without any comorbidities. A small detail that was different in Omicron patients from those with the Delta variant is fever spikes.

“In Delta patients, we would often see high grade fever, surging multiple times a day. We didn’t see this in Omicron patients. They had mild fever with hardly any spikes,” the doctor added.

Since nobody had a major progression of the disease, they didn’t administer monoclonal antibodies. Suresh Kakani, BMC’s additional municipal commissioner, said from the initial cohort of patients, nobody needed oxygen support or any escalation in treatment.

Mumbai has seen the highest cases (13), followed by 10 in Pimpri Chinchwad. That cluster includes four children. Local doctors said the children were asymptomatic despite being unvaccinated.

Doctors attending to the sole infected patient in Latur, a 33-year-old man, said he had only mild fever and cough. “On returning to Mumbai from Dubai, he experienced these symptoms and was quarantined at home,” said Dr Hanmant Wadgave, district health officer. He has fully recovered but his latest RT-PCR test report has come inconclusive, so he is still in hospital.