A 55-year-old man who was suffering from hypertension approached Dr GB Sattur, a member of the Covid task force, and complained that he was suffering from extreme dryness of the mouth. Later, the patient was tested positive for Covid-19.
Bengaluru doctors have observed patients with a symptom – Covid tongue. According to doctors, the patient exhibits no other symptoms except dryness of the mouth. A 55-year-old man who was suffering from hypertension approached Dr GB Sattur, a member of the Covid task force, and complained that he was suffering from extreme dryness of the mouth. Later, the patient was tested positive for Covid-19.
According to a report in Bangalore Mirror, Dr Sattur said, “When I checked his blood sugar level, it was normal but the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was quite high. I had read that conjunctivitis can be one of the symptoms of Covid. Though he didn’t have a fever, he said that he was tired. So, I suspected that it could be a symptom of Covid and asked him to take an RT PCR test which turned out to be positive. He was then admitted to hospital and then recovered.”
As per reports, the doctors are trying to understand the reason behind the new symptoms of the viral infection. Dr Sattur said that it might be due to the newer variants like the UK, Brazil or the double mutant first detected in India.
He also said that Covid tongue mainly starts with irritation, itching, a vague sensation of pain, and extreme dryness of the mouth with the rare occurrence of mouth ulcers. Then the patient might feel weakness without any fever.
“Doctors should keep an eye on tongue complaints and not ignore them. The government must do more genome sequencing to understand the variants better,” Dr Sattur said.
He added that if anyone feels extreme weakness with dryness in the mouth or itching of the tongue, then irrespective of the age one should take precautions and get an RT-PCR test done.