The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a virus that is constantly mutating. This means that new variants of the virus are emerging regularly. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 500 subvariants of the Omicron variant are currently circulating worldwide, including the latest XBB.15 and BF.7.
Changing Symptoms: One of the most concerning aspects of these new variants is that the symptoms associated with the disease have also changed significantly. This makes it much more difficult to identify if someone has contracted the virus based on the classic symptoms that were once recognized. The top three symptoms reported by people with COVID now are sore throat, runny nose, and difficulty swallowing.
Sore Throat: Sore throat is currently the most common symptom of COVID and an early sign of the virus. This symptom usually starts affecting the first week of contracting the virus and patients complain of feeling discomfort, pain, or scratchiness in their throats. It can also lead to difficulty in swallowing food, but the discomfort tends to improve each following day.
Runny Nose: Runny nose is also a very common sign of COVID, with many patients complaining of the same. According to the ZOE covid app, which has been tracking COVID symptoms since the beginning, when rates of COVID-19 are high, the chances that a runny nose is due to coronavirus infection is high. Patients might experience free discharge of thin mucus from their nose.
Other Common Symptoms: Apart from these three symptoms, patients are also complaining of sneezing, cough without phlegm, headache, cough with phlegm, hoarse voice, muscle aches and pains. The loss of taste and smell, high fever, and fatigue that were once recognized as the classic symptoms of the infection are no longer the top COVID signs.
Symptoms of XBB.15 and BF.7: Since both XBB.15 and BF.7 are sub-variants of Omicron, the symptoms related to them are more or less similar to the previous strains. However, till now, no symptoms have been reported that can be said as specific to these variants.
the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus has led to a change in the symptoms associated with the disease. This makes it much more difficult to identify if someone has contracted the virus based on the classic symptoms that were once recognized. It is important to be aware of the changing symptoms of COVID and to seek medical attention if you suspect that you have contracted the virus.