Coronavirus second wave: From black fungus risk to lung involvement; new lasting symptoms that appeared in the second wave

The second wave of the coronavirus has been different from the first one in many ways. It claimed more lives, was more infectious and had lasting effects post COVID recovery. Symptoms like dry cough, fever and breathlessness were identical in both cases, but there were also a few, far more consequential additions in the second one. Eye infections, hearing problems and black fungus infection were the most prominent ones that turned out to be more challenging for experts to handle.

As the second wave continues to ebb and experts speculate on the challenges of a third wave, here are some peculiar features and symptoms which made the second wave more challenging than the first time around..

Fever, dry cough, fatigue were primary symptoms of infection in both cases of coronavirus. Apart from that, in the second one, problems like eye infection, hearing problems, and loose motion also flared up. One of the major concerns of the second wave of the coronavirus was fungal infection that was diagnosed in the patient recovered from COVID-19. Many states in India witnessed a surge in the black fungal cases among those on steroids and had uncontrolled diabetes. Later on, several other types of fungal infections were reported including yellow, white and green.

The symptoms of the first wave of coronavirus were believed to be more like flu. However, there were some signs in the second one that were totally unrelated to the respiratory issues and has still been an unsolved mystery for all the experts. Gastrointestinal issues, ear problems are some of the issues that affect many in the latter one.

At the beginning of the pandemic, older adults were more at risk of getting infected. The rate of infection was less among adults between 25-50 years. Kids were only considered as the carrier of the virus and were infected only in rare cases.

However, in the second wave of the coronavirus caused mainly by the Delta variant, everyone was equally at risk. A large number of adults were infected and even lost their lives. Kids were also not safe and experienced mild symptoms. Many kids even witnessed post-COVID symptoms like multisystem inflammatory syndrome or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS). But the mortality rate was low among kids.

A study carried out in North India to understand the severity of the coronavirus revealed that the infection led to more severity in the second wave as compared to the first one. More people were hospitalised after infection complaining about breathlessness and even the mortality rate was high among younger people.

The researchers collected data of over 14,000 (first wave) and 15,000 (second wave) patients suffering from COVID from 10 hospitals to compare the pattern of the infectiousness. It was revealed that severe cases accounted for 39.4 per cent of the patients in the second wave, compared to 32.7 per cent in the first one. Moreover, patients suffering from comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease were also more affected in the second one. More patients were kept on oxygen support for days after being admitted to the hospital due to complaints of breathlessness.

Even the symptoms post-infection stayed longer in the cases caused by the Delta variant. Prolonged fatigue, brain fog and neuromuscular complications were common complaints among people which lingered for more than months after a negative RT-PCR test. Not only these, many people were even hospitalised for the second time after infection due to long COVID related symptoms. The pattern was more prominent among those who were on ventilation. Some non-severe symptoms included dry mouth, pink eyes, skin rashes and headache.