Razor sore throat, fevers, chills. Some social media customers are claiming that their present COVID-19 infections are extra extreme than earlier COVID infections; some even declare it’s the worst they’ve ever felt.
That is alarming, on condition that COVID-19 instances stay excessive in lots of components of the nation. Nobody needs to listen to that they could get sick with COVID — and with a extra intense model at that.
However is that true? Are the present circulating COVID strains truly inflicting extra extreme sickness throughout the board?
Right here’s what docs say:
The circulating COVID-19 variants do not make folks sicker than earlier variants.
Stratus, or XFG, is the present predominant variant in america, in response to knowledge from the Facilities for Illness Management. This pressure is a member of the Omicron household of viruses, stated Dr. Mark Burns, an affiliate professor of medication within the division of infectious ailments on the College of Louisville.
“And these Omicron variants have all had a couple things in common,” Burns defined. “Number one, they’re highly transmissible, but secondly, they’re not nearly as severe as previous variants have been.”
Earlier variants brought about signs comparable to lack of style and odor, along with extra hospitalizations and deaths.
“Looking at what you consider being markers for severe infection, we’re not seeing an increase … beyond what would be expected, in hospitalizations. We’re not seeing more patients in the ICU,” stated Dr. Donald Dumford, an infectious illness doctor at Cleveland Clinic Akron Normal in Ohio. “Really, right now, I think where the pandemic is, because we have a lot of herd immunity, we have a very, very low number of severe infections that really hasn’t been going up.”
This doesn’t imply somebody with a nasty COVID an infection doesn’t have it worse than they did final yr. That’s attainable, however that doesn’t imply this pressure is any extra regarding than any of the earlier strains.
Plamen Zahariev through Getty Pictures
The signs are largely the identical as earlier COVID variants.
Whereas folks aren’t ending up within the hospital extra or coming down with extra extreme an infection from this pressure, some individuals are reporting a extra bothersome symptom this September.
“The one thing that I’ve heard and the one thing we’ve seen is that it seems like this particular variant that’s circling right now seems to cause worse sore throat than other variants have,” Dumford stated. “We’ve had a lot of people describe that they have [a] razor blade type of sensation in the back of the throat, so more severe sore throat.”
Burns stated sore throat has been a symptom of COVID infections because the begin of the pandemic. Somebody might get reinfected with COVID and find yourself with a worse sore throat, however that doesn’t imply this symptom didn’t exist years in the past, he defined.
As anybody who has had COVID a number of instances is aware of, no two infections are precisely the identical, however the constellation of signs related to COVID proper now are the identical as what they’ve been previously.
You could expertise cough, sore throat, congestion, fever, muscle aches and chills, stated Dumford.
Vaccination is a vital technique to stop hospitalization and dying from COVID.
“First and foremost, you want to stay up to date on your vaccination … that’s the most important thing, and in particular, the latest COVID vaccine,” Burns stated.
This isn’t straightforward to do proper now, as COVID shot tips are complicated, various from state to state. The shot is just advisable for folks 65 and older and youthful folks with an underlying situation that places them at excessive threat of illness. Final fall, the photographs had been accessible to everybody 6 months and older.
Nonetheless, the photographs are actually accessible to some folks. If you wish to see should you’re eligible, discuss to your major care physician or a pharmacist in regards to the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility guidelines in your state.
The photographs additionally assist stop lengthy COVID, analysis reveals.
It’s additionally the time of yr for flu photographs, which might shield you and your family members from that respiratory virus.
Should you do really feel sick, you need to take a COVID check and isolate from others.
“If you have symptoms, you really need to get tested because it’s really difficult to tell. Does a person have a common cold? Do they have COVID? Do they have the flu? Do they have RSV? It’s really difficult to tell,” Burns stated.
Should you check optimistic for COVID, there are antiviral remedies accessible.
It doesn’t matter what sickness you might have, you need to isolate, Dumford stated, including that whereas you could have a gentle case of COVID or the flu, a liked one might get a way more extreme an infection, which makes staying away from others vital.
“The thing is with COVID and the flu and also RSV is healthy people don’t often end up in the hospital because of those, but we see a lot of hospitalizations in those at-risk populations,” Dumford stated, comparable to younger kids and older folks.
To guard your self from COVID and any respiratory sickness, there are further measures you may take.
“I always refer back to the old public health mitigating measures, such as washing your hands, make sure you’re in areas with good ventilation, social distancing when appropriate, and if you’re really concerned and you’re in a crowded indoor space, it’s still OK to wear an N95 mask,” Burns stated.
