Covid new strain symptoms: ‘Runny nose, sore throat and headache should be added to list’
Coronavirus variant: Expert outlines details of new strain
The coronavirus symptoms list should be expanded to include a runny nose, sore throat and headache, GPs have urged. The NHS states the only three tell-tale signs of COVID-19 are a fever, persistent cough and loss of taste and/or smell. But health officials in the US, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), have recognised other symptoms, including muscle pain and diarrhoea.
A group of 140 family doctors in London haven called on NHS bosses to expand the symptoms list.
They argue many patients with milder symptoms have not even considered if they could have the virus, and have therefore not self-isolated when they are most infectious.
Scientists have been campaigning for the official list of symptoms to be expanded for months, saying not enough infections are being caught in the early stages.
Dr Alex Sohal, a GP in Tower Hamlets and a honorary clinical lecturer at Queen Mary University, led a letter to the British Medical Journal.
We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.
She revealed at her practice patients who go on to test positive for Covid experience runny noses, sore throats, hoarseness, muscle pain, fatigue and headaches.
“The national publicity campaign focuses on cough, high temperature, and loss of smell or taste as symptoms to be aware of — only patients with these symptoms are able to access a COVID-19 test online through the NHS test booking site,” she wrote.
As such, Dr Sohal said GPs have to advise patients to be dishonest in order to get a test.
At the moment, tests are only available to those with the three recognised symptoms.
The WHO includes a runny nose, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhoea in its list of symptoms of the virus.
Dr Sohal continued: “Tell the public, especially those who have to go out to work and their employers, that even those with mild symptoms (not only a cough, high temperature, and a loss of smell or taste) should not go out, prioritising the first five days of self-isolation when they are most likely to be infectious.
“This will help to get — and keep — us out of this indefinite lockdown, as COVID-19 becomes increasingly endemic globally. Ignoring this will be at our peril.”
Scientists at Kings College London, who lead the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, have repeatedly called on health officials to expand the list.
The app allows users to log their symptoms symptoms and to also note whether they test positive for the virus.
This wouldn’t be the first time the coronavirus symptoms list has been revised.
Back in May last year, loss of taste and smell was added to the list.
As studies have revealed the new Covid variants currently circulating do not trigger any significantly different symptoms, updating the list would still cover all strains of the virus.
A spokesman from the Department of Health has said in a statement: “An expert and independent scientific group keeps the list of symptoms of COVID-19 under constant review as our understanding of the virus continues to evolve.
“Anyone experiencing the main symptoms of coronavirus – a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – should self-isolate and get a test as soon as possible.”
Last week, the NHS was urged to include ‘Covid tongue’ in its symptoms checklist after fears it was becoming more widespread.
Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, stated he’s seeing an increasing number of infected patients with sores on their tongues, unusual mouth ulcers and swollen tongues.
Source: Read Full Article
