People are seeing new signs of symptoms surrounding the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 COVID-19.
There aren’t much major changes in the symptoms, however, Dr. Alison Arwady said in a Facebook live event that doctors are seeing some change.
“Nothing really significantly different, I would say, but just more symptoms. It’s a more virulent infection,” says Arwady.
According to Chicago’s top doctor, BA.4 and BA.5 have caused more flu-like symptoms, including fevers, and sore throats. Some patients are experiencing a loss of taste and smell again.
Some doctors and researchers believe these new variants spread so quickly, they often impact mucosal immunity. These new variants tend to sit in the nasal passage and cause infection, instead of staying in the lungs. So, there may be a nasal COVID vaccine in the future. Some research suggests BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2.
In the UK, BA.4 and BA.5 infections account for majority of the recent COVID cases. Runny nose, sore throat, headache, persistent cough, and fatigue was the most common symptoms last week.
According to data from the Zoe COVID Symptom Study, less than 1/3 of the people who were surveyed reported fevers.
The reported symptoms of BA.5 are like previous COVID variants. Runny nose, coughing sore throat, headaches, muscle pain, and fatigue. Compared to earlier omicron strains, there doesn’t seem to be a difference in the symptoms in BA.4 or BA.5 cases.
The subvariant BA.5 was responsible for almost 54% of the COVID cases in the US, BA.4 was responsible for almost 17% more, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of July 2.
Dr. Nathan Grubaugh is an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said “people need to understand that variants like Omicron and BA.5 are a natural part of COVID progression.”
“Delta was never going to be the last variant—and Omicron is not going to be the last one,” he says. “As long as there is a COVID-19 outbreak somewhere in the world, there is going to be something new that emerges.”
New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommended in a tweet that “all New Yorkers should wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94 in all public indoor settings and around crowds outside.”
Source: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/how-are-covid-symptoms-shifting-with-new-variants-heres-what-chicagos-top-doc-says/2879647/
There aren’t much major changes in the symptoms, however, Dr. Alison Arwady said in a Facebook live event that doctors are seeing some change.
“Nothing really significantly different, I would say, but just more symptoms. It’s a more virulent infection,” says Arwady.
According to Chicago’s top doctor, BA.4 and BA.5 have caused more flu-like symptoms, including fevers, and sore throats. Some patients are experiencing a loss of taste and smell again.
Some doctors and researchers believe these new variants spread so quickly, they often impact mucosal immunity. These new variants tend to sit in the nasal passage and cause infection, instead of staying in the lungs. So, there may be a nasal COVID vaccine in the future. Some research suggests BA.4 and BA.5 are four times more resistant to antibodies from vaccines than BA.2.
In the UK, BA.4 and BA.5 infections account for majority of the recent COVID cases. Runny nose, sore throat, headache, persistent cough, and fatigue was the most common symptoms last week.
According to data from the Zoe COVID Symptom Study, less than 1/3 of the people who were surveyed reported fevers.
The reported symptoms of BA.5 are like previous COVID variants. Runny nose, coughing sore throat, headaches, muscle pain, and fatigue. Compared to earlier omicron strains, there doesn’t seem to be a difference in the symptoms in BA.4 or BA.5 cases.
The subvariant BA.5 was responsible for almost 54% of the COVID cases in the US, BA.4 was responsible for almost 17% more, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of July 2.
Dr. Nathan Grubaugh is an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said “people need to understand that variants like Omicron and BA.5 are a natural part of COVID progression.”
“Delta was never going to be the last variant—and Omicron is not going to be the last one,” he says. “As long as there is a COVID-19 outbreak somewhere in the world, there is going to be something new that emerges.”
New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommended in a tweet that “all New Yorkers should wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95, KN95 or KF94 in all public indoor settings and around crowds outside.”
Source: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/how-are-covid-symptoms-shifting-with-new-variants-heres-what-chicagos-top-doc-says/2879647/
