Omicron and colds – how to distinguish the symptoms? The doctor explains

1. 
   Symptoms of omicron infection are not specific. They are similar to those in a delta or alpha infection
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   It can also resemble the symptoms of fall/winter infections
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   These include cough, sore throat, and runny nose
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   However, there are several conditions that distinguish Omikron from the common cold
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   More information can be found on Onet homepage

Omicron and colds – how to distinguish the symptoms?

Symptoms of infection Corona Virus Very similar to the symptoms of seasonal infections such as flu or a cold. in the first place QatarCough, headache, muscle aches. Therefore, in the fall and winter, diagnosis can be difficult without testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

Currently, in many countries, although not in Poland, it has begun to dominate Variant of Omikron. Its symptoms are not very different from those associated with infection in the case of alpha or Delta.

– It’s mostly FeverChills, a headache, a sore throat, and, as the disease progresses, a cough, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, says Dr. Hai Chau, MD, an infectious disease physician at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in San Diego. Shaw adds that the symptoms of an Ominkron infection are also similar to those of the common cold, but there are three symptoms that do not occur with the common cold.

– The unique feature of COVID-19 is Loss of sense of smell and tasteYou won’t have the virus that causes colds, Dr. Shaw told CBS. The second thing is that the common cold is not associated with it High temperature years strong headacheWho is prevalent with Omikron – adds infectious.

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The doctor asserts: ‘If you have these symptoms, consider that you probably have COVID-19, not a cold’.

Omikron variant and the common cold – why are they the same?

Scientists recently discovered the cause of symptoms similar to the common cold and the Omikron variant, which is milder than Delta. The omicron contains an exceptionally large number of mutations, greater than any previously discovered variant. He probably got one of them by taking a piece of genetic material from a virus that causes colds.

This genetic sequence is not present in any previous version of the virus SARS-CoV-2But it is present in many viruses that cause seasonal infections.

– Thanks to this change, Omikron gives the impression that he appears “more human”, which may allow him to avoid our reactions. layout – Explains immunologist and virologist Venky Soundararajan. This may facilitate the spread of the virus, but it causes a milder or asymptomatic course of the disease.

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Previous research has shown that cells in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract may contain SARS-CoV-2 and common cold coronaviruses. Such co-infection creates space for viral recombination, a process in which two different viruses in the same human cell produce new copies containing the genetic material of both “parents”.

This new mutation can occur for the first time in a person infected with both pathogens. The same genetic sequence appears in one of the coronaviruses that cause the common cold in humans (HCoV-229E) and in HIV (Immunity deficiency Virus) that cause AIDS, says Soundararajan.

South Africa, where Omikron was first identified, has the highest HIV infection rate in the world. HIV is an acquired immunodeficiency virus that increases a person’s susceptibility to infection with common cold viruses and other pathogens. “There are many people in this part of the world who may have recombined have added this set of genes to Omicron,” explains Soundararajan.

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