Tag Archive for: COVID-19 symptoms

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Early COVID-19 symptoms differ among age groups

Early COVID19 symptoms differ among age groups - علایم اولیه کرونا متفاوت برحسب سن و جنس

Symptoms for early COVID-19 infection differ among age groups and between men and women, new research has found.

These differences are most notable between younger age groups (16-59 years) compared to older age groups (60->80 years), and men have different symptoms compared to women in the early stages of COVID-19 infection.

The paper, published in The Lancet Digital Health . The researchers modelled the early signs of COVID-19 infection and successfully detected 80% of cases when using three days of self-reported symptoms.

18 symptoms were examined, which had different relevance for early detection in different groups. The most important symptoms for earliest detection of COVID-19 overall included loss of smell, chest pain, persistent cough, abdominal pain, blisters on the feet, eye soreness and unusual muscle pain. However, loss of smell lost significance in people over 60 years of age and was not relevant for subjects over 80. Other early symptoms such as diarrhoea were key in older age groups (60-79 and >80). Fever, while a known symptom of disease, was not an early feature of the disease in any age group.

Men were more likely to report shortness of breath, fatigue, chills and shivers, whereas women were more likely to report loss of smell, chest pain and a persistent cough.

While these models were generated in the COVID Symptom study app, models were replicated across time suggesting they would also apply to non-app contributors. Although the models were used on the first strain of the virus and Alpha variants, the key findings suggest the symptoms of the Delta variant and subsequent variants will also differ across population groups.

Release date: 30 July 2021
Source: King’s College London

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Smoking associated with increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms

Smoking associated with increased risk of COVID19 symptoms - سیگار کشیدن علایم ابتلا به کرونا را تشدید می کند

The study published today in Thorax, by researchers from King’s , investigates the association between smoking and the severity of the COVID-19.

Researchers analysed data from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study App. Of the participants of the app, 11% were smokers. This is a lower proportion than the overall UK population of 14.7%, however, it reflects the demographics of the self-selected sample of the ZOE COVID Symptom Study.

While more than a third of users reported not feeling physically well during the period of study (24th March and April 2020), current smokers were 14% more likely to develop the classic triad of symptoms suggesting diagnosis of COVID-19: fever, persistent cough and shortness of breath – compared to non-smokers.

Current smokers were also more likely to have a higher symptom burden than non-smokers. Smokers were 29% more likely to report more than five symptoms associated with COVID-19 and 50% more likely to report more than ten, including loss of smell, skipping meals, diarrhoea, fatigue, confusion or muscle pain. A greater number of symptoms suggested more severe COVID-19.

Additionally, current smokers who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were more than twice as likely as non-smokers to attend hospital.

The researchers recommended that a smoking cessation strategy be included as an element to address COVID-19, as smoking increased both the likelihood of symptomatic disease and disease severity. Reduction in smoking rates could also reduce the health system burden from other smoking-related conditions that require hospitalisation.

Release date: 06 January 2021
Source: King’s College London