With a
number of symptoms, which are usually not seen in a COVID-19 patient, being linked
with the variant that caused India’s explosive second wave, doctors want to
know if it is the deadliest of the coronavirus strains.

The Delta variant is known to be the most infectious of all coronavirus variants,
50% more contagious than the Alpha variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
And there is evidence that it might be more sever as well, with patients
exhibiting symptoms such as hearing impairments, blood clots leading to
gangrene, according to a Bloomberg report.

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Researchers
in England and Scotland have also found the strain, now dominant in the UK, to
carry a higher risk of hospitalisation. In light of new spikes in infections,
caused by the Delta variant, the British government is now reconsidering its
plans of easing restrictions later this month.

“We need
more scientific research to analyze if these newer clinical presentations are
linked to B.1.617 or not,” Bloomberg quoted Abdul Ghafur, an infectious disease
physician at Chennai’s Apollo Hospital as saying. He also noted that there are
more patients with diarrhea now than in the first wave.

“Last year,
we thought we had learned about our new enemy, but it changed. This virus has
become so, so unpredictable,” he added.

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Among the
symptoms are stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, joint pain,
hearing loss, according to six doctors in India. There is little evidence that
the Beta and Gamma variants, first recognised in South Africa and Brazil
respectively, produce different clinical signs, a study by researchers from the
University of New South Wales said.

Patients
also develop small blood clots, that lead to affected tissues dying off and
develop gangrene, Mumbai-based cardiologist Ganesh Manudhane said. “I saw
three-to-four cases the whole of last year, and now it’s one patient a week,”
he said.

Also Read: Pfizer vaccine less effective against Delta variant, study finds

The clots
have been found forming in blood vessels that are linked with the intestines,
causing abdominal pain. Patients have also been complaining of a loss of hearing,
swelling around the neck and tonsillitis, Mumbai-based ear, nose and throat
surgeon Hetal Marfatia said.

Despite
India’s COVID-19 situation easing out, with fresh infections dipping below the 100,000-mark
for the first time in 63 days, the Delta variant has caused outbreaks in other
countries, like Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Also Read | India may spend Rs 45,000 crore on COVID-19 vaccines in FY 2021: Report

This has
led to calls to ramp up mass-vaccination campaigns, but with the virus showing
increased abilities to evade vaccine-induced antibodies, pharmaceutical firms
are under pressure to make new ones.