People experience varying symptoms when infected with the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Some experience cough, some cold, some develop fever, and then some experience no symptoms at all. The order in which these COVID symptoms appear also differs from person to person. Some get fever first, cold and cough later. It’s the other way around for others. There are other symptoms too that people experience. Why does this happen? Why do all the people infected with COVID experience symptoms in the same order? Is ethnicity at play here? Or the person’s immunity? The answer is none. According to a recent study, the order in which the COVID symptoms are experienced depends on the coronavirus strain.
About The Study
With this study, the scientists wanted to know if COVID symptoms differed as per geographical locations or as per the patient characteristics.
- It was undertaken by researchers at the University of California.
- To know the order of COVID symptoms, the researchers used the modelling approach.
- As many as 373,883 COVID cases in the United States from January to May 2020, were analysed.
- The findings were published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.
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Study Findings
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The order of COVID symptoms differed as per the variant, the study found out.
- The researchers at the University of California observed that the likely order in which COVID symptoms appeared differed from the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China.
- In China, where the novel coronavirus was first identified, fever was the most likely first symptom. This was followed by cough and vomiting or nausea constituted the third symptom.
- This was not the case in the United States, where cough was the first and diarrhea were the most likely third symptom of COVID-19.
- Upon further analysing data from Japan, Brazil, and Hong Kong, they deduced that the symptom order depends on the variant and not on geographical location or the patient’s characteristics.
- The D614G was the dominant strain in the US in 2020. During that time, the cough was the first symptom people experienced. Not only that, in Japan, when this variant was overtaking the original Wuhan strain, the cough was again the first symptom experienced by COVID patients. This reflects the role of the coronavirus strain in determining the COVID symptoms.
- The researchers further hypothesised that these symptom orders also played a role in the transmission of COVID. Since people are more likely to cough in public, this increases the transmissibility of the D614G strain.
COVID Symptoms
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Let us look at some of the common symptoms of COVID-19 as per the World Health Organisation:
- Fever
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Tiredness
- Headache
- Loss of smell and test
- Diarrhea
In extreme cases, people also experience shortness of breath or they have difficulty in breathing. Chest pain is another symptom.
Symptoms Of Omicron Variant
Presently, a new, highly transmissible, strain is roiling the world. First identified in November in South Africa, the WHO classified it as a variant of concern and assigned it the greek letter Omicron. Said to be highly transmissible, it has already become the dominant COVID strain in the United States and is expected to become dominant in the United Kingdom by Christmas.
As per a recent study conducted in the UK, symptoms of Omicron are similar to those of the common cold. Omicron symptoms include:
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
- Sneezing
- Headache
- Fatigue
Also read: From Vaccine Rollout, 2nd Wave To Omicron Variant: How India's COVID Situation Panned Out In 2021
India has recorded 213 Omicron cases, as per the latest count. This comes at a time when the country was experiencing some respite from COVID. With Christmas and New Year celebrations just days away, it’s no time for lax conduct. Following the COVID-appropriate protocols is the best thing we can do. Hence, wear your mask, ensure social distancing, get jabbed, and get tested if you experience any symptoms.
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