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The UK strain of Covid-19 may present with less typical symptoms, including muscle aches and fatigue, rather than the cold and flu symptoms that we have been trained to watch for.
Two of the recent community cases have experienced lethargy and muscle aches without typical respiratory symptoms, said Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield. Breakfast Wednesday morning.
Bloomfield said it was something he wanted to “alert” the public to.
“This is an interesting thing. We have seen this now with the last cases with this same variant, not typical symptoms, ”he said.
A Papatoetoe High School student who was among the cases announced Monday had an “unusual presentation,” with no cough or sore throat, which Bloomfield said could have been the reason she did not get tested immediately.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Two more community cases were announced: siblings of the Papatoetoe High student
* Coronavirus: the unusual symptoms related to Covid-19 and what we know so far
* Covid-19: New cases from Auckland’s Covid-19 community have a UK variant, evidence shows
Previously, atypical symptoms had also been observed in the Northland woman who tested positive after leaving Pullman’s isolation facility in Auckland, as well as in the first positive case at Papatoetoe High, where the girl thought her muscle aches were due to walk on Mount Taranaki.
Fatigue and muscle pain were identified as the most common symptoms of the UK strain in a study of 6,000 people.
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An unusual presentation of symptoms may have delayed one of the recent community cases that were tested.
Findings from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) also indicated that it was more common for people with the UK strain to have a cough and sore throat.
Loss of taste and smell are less likely to affect those with the UK variant.
Professor David Murdoch, an infectious disease expert at the University of Otago, said that while data from the UK indicated that fatigue and muscle aches may be more common with the new variant, these symptoms are still within the range. it would be considered typical of a respiratory virus.
A slight variation in symptoms might be expected as a virus mutates. That was seen in each flu season, he said, with different symptoms more prominent from year to year.
He said there was nothing at the moment to indicate that the government needed to change its message, but said experts would keep an “observation report” on the appearance of any new symptoms.
Dr. Michael Maze, an infectious and respiratory disease physician at the University of Otago, said that people experience a wide range of symptoms.
“It is important for the public to realize that while for most people it is a respiratory infection with respiratory symptoms, it is certainly not the case for everyone.”
He said that if people have a fever, muscle or joint pain, or even what appears to be a tummy virus, “we can’t say it’s not Covid just from its symptoms.” It was important for people experiencing these symptoms to get tested, especially if there was any chance of exposure to the virus, he said.
The UK variant is believed to be more transmissible than other variants of the virus found to date.
Although there is no evidence yet that the duration of infection is different from any other variant of Covid-19, nor is it more likely to result in serious illness, more transmission means more cases.
