Scientists identify a common symptom of highly transmissible Omicron variant
Omicron
Throughout the world, the Omicron variant of Coronavirus has been spreading at an alarming rate. According to WHO, the variant has been reported in 77 countries and has spread faster than any other strain.
Owing to this rapid spread, scientists throughout the world are working together to understand the behaviour of Omicron, which is thought to be highly resistant to existing vaccines.
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Compared to early versions of COVID-19, the results so far indicate that this new strain causes fewer severe symptoms.
However, those infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus report one common symptom - scratchy throat.
In contrast, previous variants caused a sore throat in infected people.
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Recently, Discovery Health's chief executive announced at a briefing that doctors have observed a slightly different set of symptoms among people who tested positive.
According to CEO Dr Ryan Noach, the most common early symptom is a scratchy throat, followed by nasal congestion, a dry cough, and lower back pain due to myalgia.
While most of these symptoms are mild, Dr Noach emphasized that this does not mean Omicron is less virulent.
Dr Noach's findings were also echoed by a British health expert who noted Omicron is acting "rather differently" from previous coronavirus strains.
This virus causes different symptoms to those caused by the previous variants, Sir John Bell said on BBC Radio 4's Today program on Tuesday. He added that stuffy noses, sore throats, myalgia and loose stools are the most common symptoms.
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According to him, some things are known about Omicron, but others are yet to be determined by data.
One thing scientists do know, he explained, is that the disease is highly transmissible.
The new variant is highly infectious, two to three times as infectious as the Delta variant, which was also quite infectious, he added.
The severity of the illness, however, has yet to be determined according to Sir John, and he said the next few weeks will reveal how severe it is in the UK.
