Omicron: More than 1000 cases in UK already predicts expert
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As the world waits with bated breath to see how the new Omicron variant will pan out, being aware of the symptoms is vital. So far, medical professionals state the symptoms are known to differ slightly from previous variants. What should you look out for?
Omicron patients in South Africa have reported extreme tiredness, mild muscle aches, a scratchy throat and dry cough.
Only a few had a slightly high temperature.
Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, told AFP she had seen around 30 patients over the past 10 days who tested positive for COVID-19 but had unfamiliar symptoms.
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Other Omicron symptoms reported included:
- Fever
- Night sweats
- Body pains.
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Dry cough
COVID-19 infections can leave a person with a dry cough because the lungs have been irritated.
A dry cough can be tricky to figure out, especially because the symptom can be influenced by various factors in your environment.
A February 2020 report of a joint World Health Organization-China first found around 68 percent of people with COVID-19 developed a dry cough, the second most common symptom in more than 55,000 confirmed cases.
A dry cough means you’re coughing but nothing is coming up, such as phlegm or mucus.
Myalgia
Myalgia describes muscle aches and pain, which can involve ligaments, tendons and fascia, the soft tissues that connect muscles, bones and organs.
According to Dr Richard Watkins, infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University, viral infections cause muscle pain as a by-product of activating the immune response.
It is “a result of cells of the immune system releasing interleukins, which are proteins that help in the fight against invading pathogens,” he added.
Omicron variant – what we know so far
The Omicron variant contains a number of mutations on its spike protein, which sits on the outside of the virus.
It is via the spike protein on the outer lining of the virus that the virus gains entry into the cells of the body
A World Health Organization (WHO) official has said most cases are “mild” so far but this does not mean it will not cause deaths and hospitalisations to skyrocket.
If the variant is more transmissible than Delta, it will go on to infect more people and wider transmission will mean catching greater numbers of the most vulnerable in its net.
Omicron has now been detected in at least 24 countries around the world, according to the WHO.
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