Conjunctivitis (pink eye) - a symptom of the new Covid-19 infection.

The Jakarta Health Office stated that conjunctivitis (pink eye) is one of the new symptoms in people infected with the XBB.1.16 variant of Covid-19.

The head of the office's Surveillance and Immunization Department, Ngabila Salama, said this was a manifestation of conjunctivitis. Symptoms of pink eye often include watery eyes, coughing, and chest tightness.

Dr. Vipin M Vashishtha, a member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Vaccine Safety Network, also confirmed that this is a common symptom in newborns. Besides high fever, chills, and cough, many babies experience non-purulent conjunctivitis, itching, and stickiness in the eyes.

The symptoms appeared during the early outbreaks, but were not widespread. Currently, the number of confirmed patients exhibiting these symptoms has increased significantly. Therefore, this is considered a new manifestation of Covid-19 caused by the XBB.1.16 variant. This variant is responsible for the surge in Covid cases in the Asian region.

According to experts, even small mutations in the virus can cause changes in symptoms. The manifestations also vary from patient to patient depending on their vaccination status.

Some children develop conjunctivitis or pink eye after contracting Covid-19. Photo: TOI

In a study published in April 2020, some patients experienced only conjunctivitis symptoms, with no other manifestations. According to the authors at the Truhlsen Eye Institute of Nebraska Medicine, the virus was found in the patients' tears.

"Typically, eye symptoms are related to systemic symptoms when infected with Covid-19. They are typical features of familiar respiratory illnesses, including fever, cough, and fatigue," explains Dr. Steven Yeh, an ophthalmologist at Nebraska Medicine.

Loss of smell and taste, high fever, and shortness of breath were considered "classic" signs that a person had contracted Covid-19. However, after the emergence of Omicron, these symptoms have changed. The most commonly reported problems now are headache, runny nose, sore throat, and fatigue. Some patients experience pain in the shoulders and legs, also known as muscle pain.

Muscle pain is thought to stem from the effects of inflammatory molecules released by immune cells in response to the virus. According to an app that tracks symptoms in Covid-19 patients, muscle pain is considered a leading symptom of Covid-19 and has now been widely documented.

Thuc Linh (According to CNBC)

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