Omicron can affect your gut apart from upper respiratory tract and the abdominal symptoms are becoming common in people infected with the new strain. Even people who are vaccinated are experiencing these new symptoms.
Some of the new symptoms of covid-19 include nausea, abdominal ache, vomiting, loss of appetite and diarrhoea.
"The people may initially present with abdominal symptoms without any respiratory complaints. The presenting complaints could be back ache, abdominal ache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and diarrhoea. This could be due to Omicron infecting the gut mucosa and the resulting inflammation," says Dr Manoj Goel, Director, Pulmonology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.
The expert says that even though double-vaccinated people are also coming forward with complaints of abdominal issues, these symptoms are not adverse and not of much concern.
Do not pass off abdominal pain, nausea and loss of appetite as a normal flu, if you have symptoms, isolate yourself. Avoid self-medication including so-called safe Ayurvedic treatment without consulting your doctor. Try and maintain good hydration, eat frequent, small, wholesome and light meals including nuts. Avoid spicy food and alcohol. Symptoms if mild might not be of concern," says Dr Goel.
"One should test for Covid if you have abdominal complaints even without respiratory symptoms or fever as this could be due to Omicron infection," he added.
Tips to manage gut symptoms like nausea and vomiting if you are infected with Omicron, as per the expert
* People should eat fresh cooked food maintaining good hand hygiene.
All raw fruits should be thoroughly washed before consuming.
* Avoid eating outside food and even if you are vaccinated, maintain all covid safety protocol.
Omicron, the latest variant of concern, is spreading fast as scientists across the world conduct studies to understand it better, and is likely to become a dominant strain soon. The variant not only spreads more efficiently than delta variant, causing mostly mild disease, but is also said to be capable of reinfecting people who have had Covid infection previously or even double vaccinated.
As per experts, the symptoms of Omicron mimic features of common flu and affects upper respiratory tract. According to Centre for Disease Control (CDC), some of the common symptoms associated with Omicron are cough, fatigue, congestion and runny nose. Scientists have also noted that loss of smell and taste appear to be less common among people recently testing positive for this latest strain.
But the extraordinary spread of Omicron in many countries means that in absolute numbers, more people will experience severe disease. In particular, recent data from Italy and Germany show that people who are not vaccinated are far more vulnerable when it comes to hospitalization, intensive care and death.
"I agree that sooner or later everyone will be exposed, but later is better," said virus expert Michel Nussenzweig of Rockefeller University. "Why? Because later we will have better and more available medicines and better vaccines."
OMICRON'S LONG-TERM EFFECTS ARE UNKNOWN
Infections with earlier variants of the coronavirus, including mild infections and "breakthrough" cases after vaccination, sometimes caused the lingering, debilitating long-haul COVID syndrome. "We have no data yet on what proportion of infections with Omicron... end up with Long COVID," Iwasaki said. "People who underestimate Omicron as 'mild' are putting themselves at risk of debilitating disease that can linger for months or years."
Also unclear is whether Omicron will have any of the "silent" effects seen with earlier variants, such as self-attacking antibodies and changes in insulin-producing cells.
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