Why COVID-19 today is looking more and more like a cold or flu

(HealthDay News) – symptom from mild viral infection SARS-CoV-2 They have changed this season and now More similar to allergies and the common cold,The doctor said.

Many COVID-19 patients are now experiencing the following symptoms Upper respiratory tract Such as a stuffy nose, watery eyes and sore throat, said Dr. Teresa Lovins, an independent family physician in Columbus, Indiana. “Some patients tell me, ‘It looks like I have allergies, but my allergy medicine isn’t working.’ And then I start to feel really, really tired, and I can’t regain my energy,” Lovins said.

“I said, ‘Yeah, we should make you one of them. COVID-19 test’, and most of the time, the results are positive. ” this fatigue It also continues to affect COVID-19 patients, said Lovins and Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at the university. Vanderbilt University In Nashville, Tennessee.

“Being tired for 24, 48 or even 72 hours seems to be common,” Schaffner said. “As we say in the South, people are just feeling bad. Not everyone is sleeping, but there have been quite a few comments about people taking naps just because they’re tired.

“Other clear symptoms of COVID-19, such as Deep cough, loss of taste or smell, headache, fever are less common Lovins and Schaffner said, or pronounced.

“What I’m hearing from clinical colleagues is that there are indeed a lot of symptoms Upper respiratory tract. I’m hearing a lot of people mention sore throats,” Schaffner said, adding, “Also, I’m hearing from a lot of sources that the well-publicized loss of taste and smell is less common than it was in the months leading up to the pandemic. “It’s not as unique or common as it once was.”

Infectious disease experts expect this change in mild symptoms of the disease because “almost everyone has experienced it” COVID-19 infection, vaccination, or bothSchaffner said.

“We all have certain immune levelwhen we detect the virus, we are better prepared to defend ourselves, which can change the clinical picture,” he continued. Schaffner noted that people also benefit from mutational trends in the new coronavirus that favor the Omicron variant and their descendants. “The manifestations of these viruses appear to be less severe,” he noted.

But Lovins and Schaffner emphasized that People should not take the coronavirus lightly, even milder infections become more like a common cold. Nationwide, there were more than 20,500 hospitalizations for severe COVID-19 in the first week of September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data tracker. This represents an increase of nearly 8% in hospitalizations.

“I know hospitalizations are up again in our community,” said board member Lovins. American Academy of Family Physicianss. “What we’re seeing is nowhere near what we were seeing last fall, but the numbers are up more than they’ve been since May. They were down so much that there were no COVID patients in the hospital over the summer, and now they’re up again.”

COVID-19 remains particularly serious Dangerous for people with pre-existing health conditions: Elderly people, people with chronic diseases and immunocompromised people. “These people, if infected, are more likely to develop severe disease, which can lead to increased hospitalizations,” Schaffner said.

But he added that there’s a reason the CDC recently recommended booster doses of the new COVID-19 vaccines for everyone, not just those in high-risk groups. “This emphasis on high-risk populations is the right thing to do,” Schaffner said. “Yet we are still occasionally seeing young, healthy people contract COVID-19 and end up in the emergency room and having to be admitted to the hospital. So just because you’re perfectly healthy, young, strong, and fit, doesn’t mean you’re OK Rule out coronavirus infection or treat it as a trivial matter. This virus still demands our respect“.

“The latest COVID-19 vaccine booster doses are specifically targeted at: Ómicron XBB variant range”Lovins said. The most common subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, EG.5, belongs to this family. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it currently causes one in four coronavirus infections in the United States.

Like the second most common variant, FL.1.5.1, accounting for 14% of COVID infections. “The vaccines that are available are planned for the XBB variant,” Lovins said. “So we can certainly use this vaccine to address what’s going on right now.” Lovins also urged people to get vaccinated against influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). “I have a feeling we may see a COVID vaccine become very useful. similar to flu vaccinelaunched every fall,” Lovins said.

Sources: Teresa Lovins, MD, independent family physician, Columbus, Indiana, board member, American Academy of Family Physicians; William Schaffner, MD, professor of infectious diseases, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

*Dennis Thompson. HealthDay Reporter. Health Day Spanish. © The New York Times 2023