With Omicron, what symptoms?
According to Public Health France, Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant accounted for 73% of cases as of March 14. It “mainly affects the oropharyngeal sphere, that is to say the mouth, throat, nostrils, etc. “, notes Philippe Amouyel, who specifies that this” explains its greater contagiousness “.
« The most common symptom is asthenia, therefore fatigue, he continues. Then there is the cough, temperature and headache. We also find the sore throat when swallowing, which we had much less often with the previous variants, then the pains in the muscles and the runny nose. Finally, there are more often digestive disorders, with vomiting and diarrhea, especially in children. It looks like flu syndrome.” The epidemiologist, on the other hand, does not note “almost more anosmia and ageusia, therefore the loss of taste and smell, whereas before it was one of the characteristic signs of Covid”.
What to do in case of a positive test?
Regardless of their vaccination status, Covid-19 positive individual must self-isolate. If he has a complete vaccination schedule or if he contracted the virus less than 4 months ago, this isolation lasts five days. He must then carry out an antigen test. If this is negative, he can be discharged, provided he has not had symptoms for 48 hours. On the other hand, he must stay two more days in isolation if the antigen test is positive. For those who have not been vaccinated and those who have not received their three doses, the isolation lasts seven days, at which time an antigen test must be carried out. If he is negative without symptoms for 48 hours, then the quarantine is over. Otherwise, it is necessary to go until the tenth day to regain freedom. Beyond seven or ten days, no test is necessary.
What should I do if I am in contact?
Since March 21, anyone who has been around a person who tested positive for Covid-19 no longer has to isolate themselves, whether vaccinated or not. Obviously, the authorities advise limiting contact as much as possible and respecting barrier gestures while waiting to carry out a test (antigenic, PCR or self-test) on D+2 following the risky encounter.
How long do you stay positive?
The question is more complex than it seems. Leaving aside self-tests, which are less reliable, two types of tests exist: PCR and antigens. The latter, made in pharmacies, give a result in less than 30 minutes. Each of them is looking for different characteristics of the coronavirus. The former track its genetic material, RNA, while the latter detect the “envelope proteins of the virus, that is to say its active form”, explains Philippe Amouyel.
“When you are cured, you no longer have the virus in its entire form, therefore detected by an antigenic test, continues the researcher. On the other hand, we can still harbor virus debris in which we easily find RNA”. Result: several weeks following the cure, a person can still be positive with a PCR test whereas it is not any more for a long time with an antigenic test. “The PCR can be positive, but that does not necessarily mean that you are contagious”, sums up the researcher, which is why patients only carry out antigenic tests.
