What You Need to Know About the Less Common Symptoms of COVID-19
The “classic” symptoms of COVID-19 – those first reported a few months ago when the average American was only familiar with the disease from a few scattered news reports – are fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Since then, we’ve learned more about COVID-19 and the CDC has expanded the list of official symptoms significantly. What does this mean for you? The extended list of COVID-19 symptoms includes:
- chills
- repeated shaking with chills
- muscle pain
- Headache
- sore throat
- new loss of taste or odor
The CDC notes that if a patient has a cough and shortness of breath, or experiences at least two of the above symptoms, they may have been infected with the coronavirus and should be tested.
But there are other reported symptoms of the disease – such as covid fingers or an increased risk of stroke – and we still find out how rare or common they are, even when we add them to the list. As our understanding grows, it is very important to listen to your body and talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about your health – whether you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or not. In the meantime, if you’re reading about a new or frightening symptom, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Most of the research focuses on hospitalized patients.
“This is a fully evolving area,” says Gavin Harris , an infectious disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. “Most of the research has been done on hospitalized patients.”
As Harris notes, patients who are sick enough to be admitted to hospital do not necessarily have the same set of symptoms as patients with a milder case. We also learn a lot about some of the more rare symptoms.
Harris also notes that COVID-19 overlaps with other respiratory diseases in many ways, so that no single symptom is unique to the disease. Instead, it is often a combination of symptoms indicating that the patient has COVID-19 and needs to be confirmed with a test.
Fever is not a universal symptom, says Harris. The numbers vary, but even patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized do not always have a fever.
People may experience the same disease in different ways.
As with any disease, people often get sick differently. Some COVID-19 patients will have a dry cough and shortness of breath, but no fever. Other patients may have symptoms such as loss of taste or smell, headache, and dry cough, but not shortness of breath.
In addition to the symptoms listed the CDC, doctors have also reported “kovidnyh toes,” because patients with more mild symptoms are observed swollen toes. There are also reports of neurological symptoms such as strokes, seizures and confusion, as well as cardiovascular disease .
These are all symptoms that doctors have noticed, but we do not yet know very much about why and how the virus causes them. We – and the medical community – are still in crisis mode, and it will take some time before we can truly feel the prevalence of all of these symptoms. It is important to remember that what we know is still evolving and that COVID-19 is a complex disease that can lead to a number of different complications.
You are a connoisseur of your body
When it comes to observing symptoms, the patient knows his body best. “People need to think about what’s happening to them as their symptoms develop and how it might be different from what you’re used to,” says Harris.
If you have seasonal allergies but start to develop symptoms that are not exactly the same as those you are used to, this could be a sign that something is actually different. Likewise, if you start having aches and pains that you find unpleasant, you should also talk to your doctor about this and monitor him closely.
“People are experts on their bodies,” says Harris. “Vigilance is really key.”
Shortness of breath is a red flag
There is one symptom that worries Harris most when it comes to treating patients.
“Shortness of breath is a red flag,” says Harris. Shortness of breath is a sign that the patient is not getting enough oxygen. While not all patients will have shortness of breath, this is the symptom Harris considers the most worrisome, as it most indicates that patients are developing complications that could lead to hospitalization.
As this crisis unfolds, we will no doubt learn more about the various symptoms associated with COVID-19, as well as what some of these symptoms might mean in terms of how the disease affects our bodies. Until then, it’s important to keep a close eye on your health and do whatever you can to help slow the spread so that doctors like Harris have the resources they need to keep us all safe.