- Andre Bernath
- BBC – World Service
55 minutes ago
With the development of vaccination programmes, more serious symptoms have become almost rare.
Runny nose, headache, sneezing, sore throat and persistent cough, these are the five most common symptoms in people who have contracted coronavirus following receiving two or more doses of the vaccine.
People who haven’t been vaccinated often have the following symptoms: headache, sore throat, runny nose, fever and persistent cough.
The findings come more than two years following cases were monitored in the UK, through an app created by technology company Zoe.
The data was analyzed with researchers from King’s College London, with support from the NHS.
More than 4.7 million registered users of the digital platform have registered their symptoms following testing positive for the virus.
Experts analyzed the information and recorded the most common symptoms, which have changed dramatically during the pandemic.
The study (which received funding from the British government until March 2022) was crucial to quickly identifying some of the less common effects of the virus, such as loss of smell or taste.
A slight but significant change indication
Among people who received at least two doses of the vaccine, the most common symptoms were:
Among those who did not receive any dose, the main symptoms recorded were:
The main difference is that in the unvaccinated there was a fever, which indicates a more serious problem.
They also reported more headaches and sore throats, compared to those who received two or more doses of the vaccine.
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Vaccination is the best way to avoid serious complications of infection with the Corona virus
“There are reasons to explain this change, such as the fact that individuals who received the vaccine had less severe symptoms,” the study’s authors said.
They added: “We also need to take into account that more cases are being reported in young people, who usually report mild symptoms.”
The authors of the study indicate that the arrangement of symptoms in terms of the most common, depends mainly on the information that is shared via the application only, which means that the results are not related to the many mutants of the Corona virus.
It is also worth remembering that the symptoms of infection with Covid can vary slightly. The full list of disease symptoms, according to the UK Public Health Service, includes:
- high temperature (chills)
- Persistent cough – this means severe coughing for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing fits in 24 hours
- Loss or change in the sense of smell or taste
- Feeling tired or exhausted
- Aches all over the body
- stuffy or runny nose
- feeling nauseous
What should I do if I have symptoms of Covid?
According to national and international authorities, if one or more of the basic symptoms of coronavirus infection appear, the first step is to stay at home and avoid contact with others.
This is especially important if you are in contact with people who are more susceptible to complications of the disease, such as the elderly group, or patients with weakened immune systems.
Another important step is to take a test to confirm or deny the disease.
In addition to the polymerase chain reaction assay PCRwhich is seen as the main and most effective method of diagnosis, it is possible in many countries to find rapid tests in pharmacies and elsewhere.
If the result is positive, it is important that you remain isolated for five to seven days.
If you feel better following this period, you can resume your usual routine. But if the condition worsens (or more serious symptoms develop, such as difficulty breathing), it is important to seek immediate medical help.
photo released, Getty Images
Why are people still vaccinatedh Are they infected with the Corona virus?
Vaccines once morest Covid were developed with one main purpose: to reduce the risk of developing severe complications, which are those that require hospitalization, placement on respirators, or symptoms that lead to death.
Regardless of the type of technology used to develop a vaccine, all vaccines have the same primary goal: safely exposing our immune systems to a virus or bacteria (or parts of one).
From this initial contact, which does not affect our health, the cells that defend us generate a response capable of preparing the body for the event of a real infection.
This immune process is very complex, and requires a large force of cells and antibodies. So the immune response varies greatly depending on the type of virus, its ability to mutate, the way the vaccine was developed, health problems a person may have, and other variants of the virus.
Therefore, it is very difficult to develop an immune factor capable of preventing the infection itself, that is, preventing the pathogen from entering our cells.
But this is a very important point: Even in cases where the vaccine cannot prevent infection, the immune response produced by the vaccine often makes symptoms less severe, thus preventing severe illness and death.
That’s what happens with the rotavirus and influenza vaccines, for example, and it’s exactly the same phenomenon we’re seeing with the coronavirus: although the available vaccines don’t stop new waves of cases, they do well to prevent most infections from getting worse.
Evidence for this is the waves that occurred between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 related to the Omicron mutant, when many countries broke records in the number of cases, but hospitalization and death rates were much lower than in other waves of the epidemic.
A study conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March focused on the extent of protection provided by vaccines. Through the study, it was found that adults who received three doses of coronavirus vaccines had 94 percent less need to seek hospital treatment or mechanical assistance in breathing, or death, compared to those who did not receive the vaccine.
The third evidence for this protective effect comes from a follow-up conducted by King’s College in collaboration with the Zoe app.
That study found that some severe symptoms, such as shortness of breath and a high temperature, were frequently seen early in the epidemic, when vaccines were not yet available.
After various waves of infections, and most importantly, with the doses taken by the vast majority of the population, these types of symptoms began to decline in frequency, and were gradually replaced by minor symptoms, such as a runny nose and sneezing.
