Does Covid affect your digestive system? Here is what expert says

COVID can affect all our organs. A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said COVID-19 infection can damage the brain's blood vessels and may lead to short- and long-term neurological symptoms. The severity of the infection depends on one's immunity and the vaccination status. 

Though most of the previous variants primarily affected the respiratory system, the Omicron variant is seen to be affecting the gut health of a person. Studies suggest that in most of the cases of the Omicron variant, the primary signs are not even related to the lungs. 

As per a UK-based tabloid, Omicron BA.2 variant affects the gut instead of the nose. That's why it leads to several digestive system related issues, instead of respiratory. 

Can Omicron or Covid affect your stomach?

According to Dr Amit Maydeo- Director And Chief of Gastroenterology & Therapeutic Endoscopy, Omicron doesn’t have any direct impact on the stomach, however some patients present signs of Diarrhoea. COVID does not have major side effects on the stomach. However, some patients do show signs of nausea, vomiting including diarrhoea. 

He further explained that covid affects the respiratory system more than the digestive one.

“COVID predominantly affects the lungs rather than the intestine and digestive. The respiratory pathway is more affected than the digestive pathway. Some people end up consuming medicines without consulting doctors thinking that they would end up increasing their immunity, but these medicines might affect other organs like the Liver, Stomach causing certain side effects that COVID otherwise would not,” said Amit Maydeo.

India Covid-19 tally

On Tuesday, India witnessed a dip in daily COVID cases by a margin of over 3,000 infections. The country reported 13,086 fresh infections, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The number of active COVID cases went past the 1.14 lakh mark.

Maharashtra sees 104% spike in COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 3,098 fresh COVID-19 cases, up from 1,515 the previous day, and six fatalities, taking the tally to 79,89,909 and the toll to 1,47,949, a health official said. The addition to the tally was 104 per cent more than Monday.