Since the outbreak of the omicron mutation, many infected people report symptoms of sore throat or hoarseness. This was not common when delta mutations were prevalent.
According to a study recently published by a British research team, the typical symptoms of omicron mutation infection are different from the early symptoms of the pandemic in many ways. Overall, the symptoms were relieved.
In particular, the research team studied 60,200 people who tested positive in the diagnostic test from June 1 to November 27, 2021, when delta mutations were dominant, and from December 20, 2021, to January 17, 2022, when omicrons were dominant. I focused on the symptoms.
It is a well-known fact that viruses evolve in the direction of lowering the severity of severity and increasing the rate of transmission in the process of mutation. This is a clever strategy for viruses to settle and coexist in the human world.
With this evolutionary process, the symptoms of infection gradually become lighter. This is the reason why the risk of hospitalization is higher for those infected with the delta mutation than those with the omicron mutation. The duration of symptoms was also shortened, and the average duration of symptoms following the Omicron epidemic was 6.87 days.
Fever, headache, lack of concentration, and eye pain were also less common in Omicron-infected patients. Above all, the probability of finding the virus in lower respiratory tract areas such as trachea, bronchi, and lungs has been reduced. When the lower respiratory tract is infected with a virus, the risk of severe symptoms or hospitalization is higher than when only the upper respiratory tract, such as the nose and throat, is infected.
Loss of smell and taste decreased in BA.1, an omicron mutation, but increased once more in BA.4 and BA.5. BA.2 was also found to cause more symptoms than its higher version, BA.1. As the corona virus undergoes mutation, the overall symptoms become mild, but the difference in symptoms in the same Omicron family still needs more research.
Experts believe that the risk of developing a serious condition due to corona infection continues to decrease compared to the beginning of the pandemic, but high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with underlying diseases still need to be cautious. There are patients who still show serious symptoms even with the Omicron mutation, and it is advised to avoid infection as much as possible, since it is not known how the long-term effects will be affected even by those with only mild symptoms.
By Moon Se-young, staff reporter [email protected]
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