New Delhi: Two new symptoms caused by the Omicron variant, or B.1.1.529, have been reported by a Covid-19 fitness tracking app — ZOE Covid study app — in the United Kingdom, media reports said. They are nausea and loss of appetite.
Though Omicron, designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization (WHO), spreads three times faster than the Delta variant, it causes milder disease, early evidence show.
Symptoms Of Omicron
In a video shared by ZOE, Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, and the lead author of the study, talked about some early cases of Omicron in the UK. He said that several people at a particular gathering had tested positive for Omicron. The symptoms they reported were pretty mild, he said.
Spector added that quite a few of them had nausea, slight temperature, sore throats, headaches, but nobody was bad enough to really need a doctor or go to hospital.
Those people were double or triple vaccinated.
Spector said that double or triple vaccination does seem to reduce severe illness. But it also shows how easily one person can affect many others in a close situation, he added.
ZOE data scientists analysed symptom data from positive cases reported in the ZOE Covid Study, and compared the data from early October when Delta was dominant. They used the most recent data from London, where Omicron prevalence is higher than other regions of the UK, according to an article on the ZOE Covid Study website.
In the analysis, the scientists found that there was no clear difference in the symptom profile of Delta and Omicron, with only 50 per cent of people experiencing the classic three symptoms of fever, cough, or loss of sense of smell or taste.
Runny nose, headache, fatigue (mild or severe), sneezing, and sore throat were the top five symptoms reported in both periods.
Loss of appetite and brain fog were also identified as common symptoms in the contributor reports.
Should People Be Worried About Omicron?
According to an article on the ZOE Covid Study website, there will be a high volume of death and hospitalisation if the rate of cases gets very high. It is worth noting, that while the UK abandoned restrictions some time ago, people have continued to be hospitalised and have died with Covid-19, the article said.
While Omicron and Delta nay feel like a cold to many people, it can kill and leave 1 in 50 with long-term symptoms that disrupt their day-to-day lives.
Even as cases rise, the proportion of hospitalisations appears to be decreasing in most countries where Omicron has been detected, the article noted.
The ZOE Covid Study app has had no reports from people who have been hospitalised or suffered severe symptoms with a suspected Omicron infection, the article said.
There has been an eight per cent drop in UK Covid hospitalisations from 987.7 cases a week in November 15 to 811 a week on December 15, according to an article on the ZOE Covid Study website.
However, on December 21, as many as 1,37,000 infections were reported in the UK. Mostly people aged 18 to 55 were infected. Since more number of people aged above 55 years are getting infected, there could be an increase in hospitalisation in the coming weeks as this age group is more fragile than younger groups.
How Can People Protect Themselves And Others From Omicron?
According to the article, the following steps must be taken to stay protected from Omicron:
People must recognise all the symptoms of Omicron, get tested, and isolate themselves when they experience those symptoms.
If one lives in an area experiencing high rates of infection, they must consider staying home and reduce social contact.
People must get fully vaccinated.
One must wear a mask in public places.
People must improve their immune health with small changes in their diet.