STATEN ISLAND, NY – Researchers from the US and the UK have apparently identified six types of coronavirus infections (COVID-19), each highlighted by a certain “clustering” of symptoms.
According to the new study, which has not been peer-reviewed, 1,600 patients on both sides of the Atlantic reported their daily symptoms in March and April, which eventually fell into a pattern of six identifiable groups.
1. Flu without fever: Sore throat, chest pain, headache, loss of smell, cough, unusual muscle aches.
2. Flu with fever: Fever, skipped meals, cough, loss of smell, hoarse voice, headache, sore throat.
3. Gastrointestinal: Skipping meals, diarrhea, loss of smell, headache, sore throat, chest pain.
4. Severe level one, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, hoarse voice, fatigue, chest pain, cough, fever.
5. Severe level two, confusion: Headache, confusion, cough, loss of smell, missed meals, fatigue, loss of smell, cough, hoarse voice, fever, missed meals, unusual muscle pain.
6. Severe level three, abdominal and respiratory: Loss of smell, headache, confusion, skipped meals, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, diarrhea, chest pain, fatigue, muscle pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain.
Groups 4, 5, or 6 most often included people who have pre-existing health conditions, such as lung disease or diabetes, are older in age and / or are overweight, according to the study.
In terms of predicting whether symptoms could lead to hospitalization and possibly a ventilator, the study found that those circumstances applied to 1.5% of people with group 1 symptoms, 4.4% of people with group 2 and 3.3 symptoms. % of people with symptoms in group 3.
For groups 4, 5, and 6, those same figures were 8.6%, 9.9%, and 19.8%, respectively.
