More than 26 million people worldwide are infected with COVID-19, but this virus continues to mutate, adding more symptoms to the patients. Cough, fever, and losing smell and taste are symptoms in someone infected with Covid-19. However, recently, experts found there has been a new symptom, namely silent or happy hypoxia syndrome in Covid-19 patients in Indonesia.
Silent or Happy Hypoxia is low oxygen levels in the body, which normally lead to shortness of breath. But some coronavirus patients with hypoxia don't experience this hallmark sign that their oxygen levels have dropped into dangerous territory.
SARS-CoV2 virus mutates and decreases oxygen levels in the blood. If the oxygen level in the blood decreases, organs such as the heart, brain and others are at risk causing unconsciousness to death. This symptom is very dangerous because the patient does not feel any pain or short of breath but suddenly the oxygen level in his blood drops.
But some of the research agreed that there are no characteristics or criteria that determine whether a person is at higher risk of silent hypoxia. The only way to know if you have silent hypoxia without seeking medical care is through at-home monitoring using pulse oximeters, which measures the saturation of oxygen carried in a person's red blood cells. You attach it to your fingertip to get a reading. You can get it in the pharmacies. If your condition doesn’t improve, seek medical treatment immediately.
Meanwhile, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients who undergo self-isolation need to monitor their health. Extra cautious if you suddenly become weak even without doing anything, immediately talk to your doctor.