Are symptoms of Omicron different from other coronavirus variants? Details inside

A total of 21 cases of Omicron have been reported in India till today. All the cases have mild symptoms. The first two cases were reported from Karnataka, followed by one in Jamnagar (Gujarat) and another one in Maharashtra. However, later on Sunday seven cases of Omicron were reported from Maharashtra’s Pune where six belonged to the same family. Besides, in Jaipur, nine cases were confirmed and all of them attended the same wedding.

South African doctors who first dealt with the Omicron patients asserted that the symptoms are different from that of the other Covid variants. 

Omicron Symptoms

Research regarding Omicron is at the very initial stage and nothing much can be said about this variant. However, according to the cases reported in India and other parts of the world, it can be said that they show symptoms more like the common cold and nothing like Covid-19 cases, caused by other variants. 

The chairperson of the South African Medical Association, Angelique Coetzee who first warned the South Africa government about the new variant of Covid-19 called Omicron, reported unfamiliar symptoms. Scientists assert that the new symptoms may be due to their mutation. It is predicted that the variant might have picked up a small portion of genetic material from another virus, probably the common cold.

Director of Tata Institute for Genetics and Society and former Chief of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Dr Rakesh Mishra stated that often people might misinterpret the symptom as the common cold and miss out on testing. “People are likely to confuse this with the common cold as there is no breathing trouble or loss of smell or taste, which may increase its spread,” Mishra said.

Delta variant

Delta variant showed different symptoms from that of Omicron. As per the medical experts, people who got infected with the Delta virus suffered from fever, headache, sore throat, and runny nose. After entering the body of the host, the virus can stay as long as the original virus, that is two weeks. Besides, the duration can be longer depending upon the severity.

Will Omicron cause severe infections?

The World Health Organisation is not sure about the rate of transmission of the new Coronavirus variant, Omicron. It is also not clear about the severity of the variant, compared to the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant. Besides, WHO did not suggest any report that the symptoms of Omicron are different from that of other coronavirus variants.