Can Omicron cause heart damage? Here's what experts say

In case of previous variants, a large number of Covid patients ended up with heart damage. Can Omicron affect heart? Experts answer.

Omicron, first identified in South Africa last year in November is yet to be fully decoded by experts across the world. Relatively mild and much more infectious than previous Covid-19 variants, Omicron cases are seeing an upward trend in India.

The predominant symptoms of Omicron include headache, lethargy, throat pain, dry cough, fever and loss of appetite. (Pixabay)

The predominant symptoms of this variant include headache, lethargy, throat pain, dry cough, fever and loss of appetite. So far it seems to be largely affecting upper respiratory system and not known to affect lungs much. But can it affect our heart?

In the case of previous variants, it was found that a huge number of Covid patients ended up with heart damage and heart failure was one of the causes of death in Covid patients. Heart damage was reported even in those who did not have severe symptoms.

Severe inflammation or swelling in the inner surfaces of the blood vessels, myocarditis caused by overall inflammation due to body's fighting responset, blood clots, and palpitations were some of the heart troubles caused by Covid-19.

However, in case of current Omicron wave, experts say there haven't been any cardiac symptoms reported so far although it is still very early to say for sure.

"Omicron is a recent variant of this virus and very little is known about it so far. As far as Omicron affecting heart is concerned there is not much of information about it. It is not clear whether Omicron can cause myocarditis, inflammation of the heart which we had seen in case of delta variant. But it is too early to say for sure as it takes some time (to find out about these things)," says Dr Ajay Kaul, Chairman - Fortis Heart & Vascular Institute, Noida.

The expert adds that overall, Omicron infection is relatively mild and it causes mild symptoms.

"Most of the vaccinated people who get positive with Covid-19 are not requiring steroids or oxygen support or mechanical ventilation in the hospital. Only the unvaccinated or ones with severe immunocompromised conditions such as transplant/cancer/auto immune conditions are requiring hospitalization and ICU stay. Omicron has not been evidenced to cause any serious or severe implications on the cardiac system," says Dr Charu Dutt Arora, Consultant Physician and Infectious Disease Specialist Head, Ameri Health, Asian Hospital, Faridabad.

“The previous Covid variants have been influencing heart attacks and other heart-related complications in patients over the last two years. However, this particular variant hasn’t shown precipitation of heart complications or underlying ailments. At the same time, surprisingly a lot of patients who have been admitted due to heart attacks have been incidentally detected with the virus and tested positive. This is a prominent observation we have during the third wavewave," says Dr Rahul Gupta, Consultant, Cardiologist, Apollo Hospitals, Navi Mumbai.