New Covid symptoms listed in the UK; Find out what it is and the relationship with the current stage of the epidemic | the health

Previously, the British Public Service listed only the three main classic symptoms of the disease: A “new”, persistent cough (Severe cough lasting longer than an hour or equivalent to 3 or more coughing fits in 24 hours), High temperature or chills And the Loss or change in the sense of smell or taste.

The list now includes the following symptoms:

1. shortness of breath
2. tiredness or fatigue
3. body pain
4. Headache
5. Sore throat
6. stuffy or runny nose
7. Anorexia
8. Diarrhea
9. Nausea or vomiting

Karla Kobayashi, an infectious disease specialist at Seryo Hospital Lebanon and technical advisor to the Ministry of Health, explains that since the beginning of the pandemic, fever, cough and loss of smell have been the symptoms that have characterized Covid-19, but this scenario is no longer the same.

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With the arrival of the ubiquitous, prevalent today in the world, these symptoms have often ceased to appear. This variant of SARS-CoV-2 already indicates the increased presence of “less common” symptoms.

“So we started having a sore throat, a lot of headaches, and a lot of body aches,” Kobayashi says.

according to ZOE COVID symptom study, From King’s College University Londonwhich records, via a smartphone, how hundreds of thousands of infected people feel United kingdomThese are precisely the symptoms most closely associated with this type of coronavirus, along with a runny nose and sneezing.

This is because the omicron virus has an affinity, what scientists call “viral enucleation,” to multiply in the upper respiratory tract (nasal cavity, pharynx). However, According to the experts they consulted g 1Why omicron has this property is something that still needs to be investigated.

On the other hand, gastrointestinal symptoms in general, such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, indicate only a few cases of Covid, says Kobayashi.

That is why the doctor considers the decision of the British government to be quite clever, since the rate of infection of the variant is very high in the world. In Brazil, for example, an analysis by Vucruz showed that 99.7% of the genome sequenced in February corresponded to this variant.

Most of these symptoms included [pelo NHS]such as fatigue, body aches, headaches, colds, and gastrointestinal symptoms are specifically what characterizes Omicron the most,” says the infection specialist.

Ethel Maciel, a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, is also drawing attention to another important factor in updating the NHS list. With the formalization of these new symptoms, the operating protocol is facilitated.

Thus, people who enter health facilities with some mild symptoms can access diagnostic tests for Covid-19.

“If someone comes to the service [de saúde] He says that he suffers from nausea and vomiting, for example. If these are not the symptoms expected in the Covid list, the health professional ends up not ordering this test,” he says.

In Brazil, the Ministry of Health states that SARS-CoV-2 infection is characterized by symptoms that differ from the clinical picture of the disease. The list has not been updated since May last year. a g 1 Contact for more recent updates and awaits the return of the folder.

For MOS, there are mild cases indicating symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny nose, and in some cases, loss of smell and taste, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, chills, muscle aches (muscle aches), fatigue and/or headache (“headache) .

Moderate cases may include mild signs such as a persistent cough and fever. Serious and critical cases include respiratory distress, persistent pressure in the chest, acute respiratory failure, and multiple organ dysfunction, among others.

The list does not contain symptoms such as loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, unlike the NHS list.

coronavirus subvariants

Another important factor to note here is that omicron sub-variants, such as BA.2, have properties closely related to the ‘common’ omicron, BA.1.

Although it has been identified as more contagious, there are no studies to suggest, for example, that BA.2 tends to cause more severe forms of the disease or present more worrisome symptoms.

“WHO alert variables, and underlines, have properties frequently found in the omicron variable,” Kobayashi explains.

The same is true for SARS-CoV-2 recombinant variants, such as XE recombination (BA.1 – BA.2) identified by the World Health Organization last week as more contagious than BA.1, with a population growth of 10% greater than alternative.

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The doctor points out that there are no data confirming this greater severity and warns that The World Health Organization clarified that XE retains the properties of an omicron.

Furthermore, studies on this recombibility are preliminary; The organization is awaiting further research on this matter.

The World Health Organization warned that “XE belongs to the omicron variant so significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, can be reported”.

A mixture of delta and micron It has little evidence of rotation, transmission, and gravity.

For this reason, the infectious disease specialist in Syria – Lebanon emphasizes that we should be aware of the following: Flu symptoms.

Symptoms [característicos de agora] It’s what we experienced in December and January: fever, headache, body aches, headache, fatigue, and gastrointestinal pain,” he says.