With the new corona variants, the signs of illness that are associated with infections are also changing. Researchers from Great Britain have now identified a new main symptom – and warn: Most people do not even recognize it as a corona warning sign.
Since Omikron has replaced earlier corona variants, most people have become ill much less severely as a result of an infection. The symptoms also change. Scientists from Great Britain are continuously observing this as part of the “Zoe Covid Symptom Study”, the largest study of its kind in the world.
To this end, people infected with corona continuously document their signs of illness in an app. In total, more than four million people have already taken part. The documentation is then reviewed by British researchers, including those from the renowned Kings College London.
One of these researchers and co-founder of the study is Tim Spector. In an interview with “The Independent”, he now explained that there is a new main symptom of Corona: “At the moment, Covid starts with a sore throat in two thirds of people,” says the scientist. Other symptoms, such as fever and loss of smell, are “really rare”.
Many people, especially older people, would not even think about the fact that they might have Covid because of the sore throat. “They would say it’s a cold,” Spector said. The danger here is that people would not let themselves be tested. So many people could unknowingly pass on the virus. The number of infections also shows that older people in particular are infected.
“It looks like we’re at the beginning of the next wave,” Spector continues. Initial data showed that new subvariants of omicron could, at least in part, evade the immune system. That could cause “real problems” for Britain, says the scientist. Because winter is getting closer, the health system is “on its knees” anyway.
Autumn time is cold season. But with a few very easy tricks, you can strengthen your immune system and prevent a sore throat and cold.
Two variants in particular are causing concern for the UK researchers:
According to the first data, both omicron pathogens seem to have a pronounced immune escape. So they escape relatively well from the antibodies that we have built up through previous infections and vaccinations. “What’s interesting about these variants is that while they’re slightly different in how they originated, they’ve evolved the same changes to evade the body’s immune system,” said virologist Lawrence Young in an interview with The Independent.
“What we’re finding is that the virus is evolving around the immunity that’s been built up from vaccines and countless infections that people have had,” Young said. The “greatest concern” for the experts is that these two variants are causing a slight increase in infections, according to initial data. “In a way, that was to be expected,” said the virologist. “But it shows that we are unfortunately far from over the mountain with this virus.”
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