While the most common symptoms of Coronavirus had become well known – fever, loss of smell or taste, cough – the Delta variant is behaving differently and presenting a different group of symptoms, according to researchers.
There is very limited data about the plus variant at present, with scientists unsure how much it differs genetically from baseline Delta.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) currently says Delta plus a part of the already widespread Delta variant.
And it appears to have the same symptoms, as well.
But these may differ from the signs people expect from other Covid infections.
But while in a YouTube video, Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist on the Zoe Covid symptom tracker app, highlighted it may give people an entirely different picture of non-variant Covid.
According to him, Delta works “slightly differently” compared to some of its predecessors.
And main Covid signs such as loss of smell don’t even come “into the top 10” of the app’s most common symptoms.
The data from the ZOE COVID Study has shown that there are over 20 different symptoms of COVID-19, not just the classic three: fever, cough and anosmia.
Chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches were together most strongly linked with being infected, alongside classic symptoms.
We’ve found that the symptoms in younger people and post-vaccination are both different.
The top symptoms being currently logged in the Zoe app are; headache, runny nose, sneezing, fatigue and sore throat, which for many will feel more like a common cold.
By comparison, base COVID-19 causes:
- A high temperature (38C+)
- A new, continuous cough
- Loss of change to sense of smell and taste
The research app further pointed out that vaccinated patients develop the infection primarily through frequent sneezing, although in unvaccinated patients it is often considered a sign of cold or allergy rather than infection.
“If you’ve been vaccinated and start sneezing a lot without an explanation, you should stay home and get a COVID test, especially if you are living or working around people who are at greater risk from the disease,” advised the COVID Symptom Study app researchers.
Scientists aren’t yet sure whether Delta plus has developed distinct mutations.
Dr Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University, told the BBC Delta plus may have a “slight” infectivity advantage.
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But this enhancement gives it an edge in spreading “between people who were previously infected earlier during the pandemic” or with “weak or incomplete vaccine immunity”.
Dr Kamil added he didn’t believe there was enough data to distinguish it as “more dangerous or concerning” than Delta.
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