PUNE: City hospitals have recorded a 5-10% rise in the number of Covid patients turning up at OPDs, but most of them have mild to asymptomatic disease, doctors said.
Hospital representatives said almost all patients - those without comorbidities - are reporting shorter fever duration (48-72 hours) with more upper respiratory tract symptoms such as sore throat, blocked nose and cough. They also have body ache and weakness - similar to symptoms during BA.1, BA.2 wave.
Noble Hospital's infectious disease specialist, Dr Ameet Dravid, said nearly 99% of those who had turned up had mild disease.
"Also, the majority had taken the first two doses but not the booster. These patients, however, are getting better on oral antivirals. So, there's no need for alarm." He said new subvariants (likely the cause of the recent spike) are unlikely to trigger new symptoms as they are basically from the Omicron sublineage.
Dr Vasant Nagvekar, member of the state Covid task force, said, "Admissions are only being seen in elderly patients above 75 or those with multiple comorbidities. Healthier groups have mild symptoms. Also, many elderly and those with comorbidities are admitting themselves as a precaution." He added that fever duration in healthier patients is now just 2-3 days, like in the third wave.
"So, it's much shorter than the Delta wave," he said.
Dr Kapil Zirpe, from Ruby Hall Clinic, said, "There are no Covid admissions at the hospital. But the number of those with mild or asymptomatic disease has increased over the two to three days, by around 5%. The infecting subvariant once again seems to be triggering mild Covid, similar to BA.1/BA.2."
Dr Parikshit Prayag, from Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, said, "We are only seeing mild cases so there has been no hospitalisations."
Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, from the Symbiosis University Hospital & Research Centre, said they've not had a single patient in the last month or so. "Most patients may be having mild disease and are probably recovering at home," she said.
