Almost as soon as Omicron began to spread, clinicians observed subtle variations in their patients’ symptoms compared to previous forms.
Mild, cold-like symptoms like sore throats, sneezing, and runny noses were becoming more prevalent, but COVID-19’s prior trademarks like fevers, coughing, and loss of taste or smell had faded.
Dr. Claire Steves, a scientist working with the Zoe COVID Symptom Study, stated that the most often reported symptoms of Omicron are quite similar to a cold, particularly in those who have been vaccinated.
The Zoe project utilizes a smartphone app to track how hundreds of thousands of UK individuals feel daily.
It provides an in-depth examination of how COVID-19 symptoms have evolved throughout the pandemic, most notably with the introduction of the Delta and Omicron strains.
Based on data obtained by the Zoe app, the chart below compares Omicron’s symptoms to those of its predecessors. (Open image charts in New Tab for Zoom in)
The top five symptoms among those in the UK who had a positive COVID-19 test in the last few weeks were a runny nose, headache, weariness, sneezing, and sore throat.
Meanwhile, just 44 percent of those polled had a chronic cough, and 29 percent reported a fever.
As the figure below demonstrates, loss of taste or smell was much less prevalent.
While the statistics do not differentiate between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, as of Thursday, 70% of the UK population had received at least two vaccination doses.
Cases of Omicron often begin with a scratchy sore throat, headache, and congestion.
Dr. Jorge Moreno said he’s recently witnessed an increase in COVID-19 patients at his outpatient clinic.
He claims that since most of those people have been vaccinated, their symptoms are milder and last for a shorter time.
Many patients begin with a dry, scratchy throat, which produces severe discomfort while swallowing. Moreno, an assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, says it’s a pretty noticeable symptom; it isn’t like a bit of itch in the throat. When people are reporting it, it’s because their throat is raw.
He stated that sore throats are often accompanied by sinus congestion and headache, followed by a cough a day or two later.
During a December press conference, Ryan Noach, CEO of Discovery Health, South Africa’s biggest private health insurance, said that Omicron patients often experience a scratchy throat, followed by nasal congestion, a dry cough, and body pains.
Moreno added that cough is still one of the symptoms, but it’s not as awful as it used to be, and vaccinated patients don’t have as many respiratory problems.
Smell Loss is also Uncommon Among Omicron Sufferers
This month, fewer than 20% of persons in the UK with a positive COVID-19 test were documenting the symptom in the Zoe app.
Loss of smell was the sixth most frequent COVID-19 symptom among fully vaccinated adults in June when the Delta variation dominated the UK.
In March, before Delta was discovered and vaccinations were widely accessible, 60 percent of UK persons aged 16 to 65 who used the Zoe app reported losing their sense of smell at some time during their sickness.
Moreno says weariness is becoming increasingly noticeable among outpatients, who often report feeling tired and achy. He adds that he has seen a lot more folks expressing weariness as one of their primary symptoms, but this is only because they are pushing things through and need relaxation.
Scientists Aren’t Clear why the Symptoms of COVID-19 are Changing
Vaccines can lessen illness severity. However, Omicron may be a less virulent virus on its own.
Two unpublished laboratory investigations show that Omicron may be less successful at targeting lung cells than previous variations.
Another not-yet-peer-reviewed research, released Wednesday, found that Omicron, when compared to Delta, lowered the probability of severe hospitalization or mortality from COVID-19 by 25%.
Omicron may potentially alter the way viruses multiply or concentrate in the body.
According to December research from the University of Hong Kong, Omicron replicates 70 times quicker in the central airways, or bronchi, than Delta, but ten times slower in lung tissue.
Another preprint research published earlier this month found that the viral load from an Omicron infection peaked in saliva one to two days before it peaked in nasal swabs, indicating that Omicron may infect the throat before the nose.
Nonetheless, physicians have seen a distinct gradient of symptoms depending on a person’s vaccination status. Moreno adds that unvaccinated people have a little longer and more difficult journey. Those who have been immunized choose a middle-of-the-road path. The boosted folks, in many instances, have symptoms similar to a cold: nasal pain, sore throat.
Before Omicron, Moreno added, his COVID-19 patients would feel lousy for 10 to 14 days. People who have had a booster injection, he says, have reported shorter spells of sickness than those who have received fewer doses or none at all. He stated that for those who received the shot, their energy level returns within five to seven days after the beginning of symptoms. Their symptoms have subsided.
