Scientists have finally decoded the likely order in which coronavirus symptoms appear in a human body. The study will help clinicians rule out other diseases, and help patients seek care promptly or decide sooner to self-isolate.

Scientists have finally decoded the likely order in which coronavirus symptoms appear in a human body. The study will help clinicians rule out other diseases, and help patients seek care promptly or decide sooner to self-isolate. Also read: Chinese warned to stay away from COVID-19 vaccine scams on social media According to the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, the COVID-19 patients are likely to first get a fever, followed by cough, muscle ache, nausea or vomiting and diarrhoea. Peter Kuhn, who is a professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in the US and study's co-author, said: "This order is especially important to know when we have overlapping cycles of illnesses like the flu that coincide with infections of COVID-19." Kuhn said that the new information will help doctors determine the steps to take to care for patients and prevent their condition from worsening. According to researchers, identifying patients earlier could reduce hospitalisation time as there are better approaches to treatments now for COVID-19 than during the beginning of the pandemic. The data for the current study has been taken from the rates of symptom incidence of more than 55,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in China, all of which were collected from February 16 to 24 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The researchers also collected the dataset of nearly 1,100 patients from December 11, 2019, through January 29, 2020, by the China Medical Treatment Expert Group via the National Health Commission of China. The scientists compared the order of COVID-19 symptoms with influenza. According to the examination, scientists took data from 2,470 cases in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere, which were reported to health authorities from 1994 to 1998. "The order of the symptoms matter. Knowing that each illness progresses differently means that doctors can identify sooner whether someone likely has COVID-19, or another illness, which can help them make better treatment decisions," said Joseph Larsen, study lead author from USC. "The first two symptoms of COVID-19, SARS, and MERS are fever and cough. However, the upper GI tract (nausea/vomiting) seems to be affected before the lower GI tract (diarrhea) in COVID-19, which is the opposite from MERS and SARS," the scientists wrote in the study. According to the research, a very small fraction of patients experienced diarrhoea as an initial symptom. "This report suggests that diarrhea as an early symptom indicates a more aggressive disease, because each patient in this dataset that initially experienced diarrhea had pneumonia or respiratory failure eventually," the scientists wrote. "The highest reported symptom is fever, followed by cough or dyspnea, and then finally, a small percent of patients reported diarrhea. This order confirms the most likely paths that we have determined," they noted. (Inputs from PTI)

'Fever, ache, vomiting...': Researchers predict order of COVID-19 symptoms

One of the deadliest diseases in the world -&nbsp; cancer may be now detectable up to four years before someone shows symptoms, a new study says.

The blood test, called PanSeer can detect cancer in 95 per cent people who show no symptoms but inevitably develop the disease.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="/india-news/latest-india-news-one-in-every-ten-indians-will-develop-cancer-during-their-lifetime-world-health-organisation-278820" hreflang="en">One in every ten Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime: World Health Organisation</a>

The research is not a predictive test, but rather simply picks up signs of cancer in the body before they become pervasive enough to cause apparent changes in the body, which is mostly when people get diagnosed with the disease. This early detection can prevent many deaths and complications by taking early&nbsp;steps to bring it under control.

The researchers who contributed belong to various schools of Fudan University -&nbsp;State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development,&nbsp;Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, and the&nbsp;Human Phenome Institute.

"Non-invasive"

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and the test it has developed is a “DNA methylation-based” non-invasive blood test.

Even though earlier studies have claimed to have achieved the same, this particular test is peculiar for it diagnoses the cancer even before its symptoms become apparent in patients.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="/business-economy/johnson-johnson-told-to-pay-21-billion-over-cancer-causing-talc-powder-308196" hreflang="en">Johnson &amp; Johnson told to pay $2.1 billion over cancer-causing talc powder</a>

The researchers looked for methyl groups in the DNA, which are one of the significant signs of tumour. They then picked up small strands of DNA to ascertain the presence of cancer.

Employing technology based on artificial intelligence, they developed a system to determine whether any DNA came from tumours.

Early diagnosis: Early treatment

They collected 414 plasma samples from people in China between 2007-2014.

Out of these cancer free samples, 191 came out with symptoms of stomach, liver, lung, colorectal cancers, after which they were diagnosed.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="/world/astrazeneca-blood-cancer-drug-shows-signs-of-helping-covid-19-patients-303838" hreflang="en">AstraZeneca blood cancer drug shows signs of helping COVID-19 patients</a>

The team based in China also collected sampled from 223 patients that had already been diagnosed with some form of cancer.

PanSeer was able to detect cancer in 88 per cent of the participants who were already diagnosed, while it logged in 95 per cent cancer cases in people who had not shown any symptoms or had not been diagnosed with any cancer.

The test may be advanced, but it cannot pick up what type of cancer one has.

One of the deadliest diseases in the world - cancer may be now detectable up to four years before someone shows symptoms, a new study says. The blood test, called PanSeer can detect cancer in 95 per cent people who show no symptoms but inevitably develop the disease.

One of the deadliest diseases in the world - cancer may be now detectable up to four years before someone shows symptoms, a new study says. The blood test, called PanSeer can detect cancer in 95 per cent people who show no symptoms but inevitably develop the disease. Also read: One in every ten Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime: World Health Organisation The research is not a predictive test, but rather simply picks up signs of cancer in the body before they become pervasive enough to cause apparent changes in the body, which is mostly when people get diagnosed with the disease. This early detection can prevent many deaths and complications by taking early steps to bring it under control. The researchers who contributed belong to various schools of Fudan University - State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, and the Human Phenome Institute. "Non-invasive" The study was published in the journal Nature Communications and the test it has developed is a “DNA methylation-based” non-invasive blood test. Even though earlier studies have claimed to have achieved the same, this particular test is peculiar for it diagnoses the cancer even before its symptoms become apparent in patients. Also read: Johnson & Johnson told to pay $2.1 billion over cancer-causing talc powder The researchers looked for methyl groups in the DNA, which are one of the significant signs of tumour. They then picked up small strands of DNA to ascertain the presence of cancer. Employing technology based on artificial intelligence, they developed a system to determine whether any DNA came from tumours. Early diagnosis: Early treatment They collected 414 plasma samples from people in China between 2007-2014. Out of these cancer free samples, 191 came out with symptoms of stomach, liver, lung, colorectal cancers, after which they were diagnosed. Also read: AstraZeneca blood cancer drug shows signs of helping COVID-19 patients The team based in China also collected sampled from 223 patients that had already been diagnosed with some form of cancer. PanSeer was able to detect cancer in 88 per cent of the participants who were already diagnosed, while it logged in 95 per cent cancer cases in people who had not shown any symptoms or had not been diagnosed with any cancer. The test may be advanced, but it cannot pick up what type of cancer one has.

A new blood test can detect cancer four years before symptoms show

A wearable device the size of a postage stamp is being tested by researchers at Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab as a way to monitor and catch early signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

Small wearable device monitors virus symptoms