Cough, fatigue, sore throat and muscle pain may be more common in people who test positive for the new UK variant of coronavirus, BBC News reports a study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests. The findings are based on positive tests from a random sample of 6,000 people in England.
Loss of taste and smell may be slightly less likely to affect those with the new form of the virus. However, it is still one of the three main symptoms of the virus.
The report says the new variant spreads more easily than the previous form of the virus and has now spread across the UK, causing a surge in cases which prompted the current lockdown. Two other variants – one from South Africa and another from Brazil – are also circulating, although at lower levels.
The report says the ONS analysis looked at the symptoms reported by people up to a week before testing positive for the new variant of coronavirus, compared with those testing positive for the old variant. They were tested over two months between mid-November and mid-January. Test results compatible with the new variant show up as being positive for two genes, rather than three for the other variant.
In a group of about 3,500 people with the new variant:
35% said they had a cough
32% had fatigue
25% had muscle aches and pains
21.8% had a sore throat
In a group of 2,500 people with the old variant:
28% had a cough
29% had fatigue
21% had muscles aches and pains
19% had a sore throat
According to the report, the study found 16% of those with the new variant experienced losing their sense of taste while 15% lost their sense of smell. This was slightly lower than reported by people with the old variant (18% for both). There was no difference found in levels of headaches, shortness of breath or diarrhoea and vomiting in both groups.
Professor Lawrence Young, virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, is quoted in the report as saying the new variant of the virus had 23 changes compared to the original Wuhan virus.
The report says the analysis is part of a long-term study to track coronavirus in the UK population, carried out jointly with Public Health England, the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester.
[link url="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55827489"]Full BBC News report (Open access)[/link]
[link url="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19infectionsinthecommunityinengland/characteristicsofpeopletestingpositiveforcovid19inengland27january2021"]Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey[/link]