MOVE ASIDE, LOSS OF SMELL AND FEVER. The new dominant symptom of COVID-19 infection is a sore throat, according to new reports from the United Kingdom.
As we head into the autumn season in the northern hemisphere, I want to highlight this symptom shift, as you may have the COVID-19 virus without knowing it.
Listen as Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, speaks with The Independent: “Many people still use government guidelines about symptoms, which are wrong.”
Some believe the United Kingdom is heading into a devastating Covid wave this fall, exacerbated by a testing drop and inadequate surveillance of new immune-evasive subvariants.
COVID symptoms evolving
Spector co-created the COVID ZOE app, a component of the world’s largest COVID-19 study. Throughout the pandemic, scientists have tracked changes in symptoms using data from the app. Researchers recently discovered this:
COVID-19 infection begins in two-thirds of people with a sore throat. Fever and smell loss are rare symptoms now, so it is easy to mistake a sore throat for a common cold.
COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom are rising again, increasing by 14 percent at the end of September, according to the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics.
Over 1.1 million individuals tested positive during the week ending September 20, 2022, a rise from 927,000 the week prior. The numbers continue to rise in England and Wales, with uncertain trends in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Overall, the United Kingdom is seeing 13 cases per 100,000 currently.
The New York Times reports that the United States has 12 reported cases per 100,000 and has been trending downward. Australia is trending downward, too, with 20 reported cases per 100,000. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is on the rise in European countries, including France (80 per 100,000), Germany 97; Austria 152; Italy 64; and Greece 73. Historically, European increases have signaled a trend in other areas.
My take
Hopefully, we will be able to track the latest variants and COVID19-trends, even with reduced testing and surveillance of variants; we are not sequencing through PCR testing nearly as much anymore. I wish the free tests were still available.
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) encourages us to get the updated Omicron-targeted booster shot for the fall. Half of the eligible population has not received any booster dose.
Half of the eligible population in the U.S. hasn’t received any booster dose. The CDC offers this:
“Bivalent boosters help restore protection that might have gone down since your last dose — and they also give extra protection for you and those around you against all lineages of the Omicron variant. The more people who stay up to date on vaccinations, the better chance we have of avoiding a possible surge in COVID-19 illness later this fall and winter.”
Thank you for joining me today in this look at a new dominant symptom of COVID infection.
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The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.
