The new symptom in your head that could mean you have Omicron
BRITS have been experiencing all kinds of symptoms with Omicron.
The general rule of thumb at the moment is if you’re feeling ill, think Covid.
But with so many potential symptoms flying around it’s hard to know when to get a test.
A new symptom has popped up on the list of the top 20 most reported by Brits.
People have been logging how they feel before and after testing positive on the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app.
Still in the most commonly felt symptoms are a runny nose, headache, fatigue, altered smell and skipped meals.
But earache has been added on, as a regular symptom for people who test positive for the variant.
Evidence is growing ear pain is a sign of Omicron – which is producing milder illness in people, especially the vaccinated.
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People hit with the variant are largely experiencing more cold-like symptoms – although as with any illness it can hit some harder than others, primarily those who aren’t protect with a jab.
UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr Peter Chin-Hong told ABC News: “There’s a lot more in the big airways of the lungs.
“Because that’s closer to the nose and mouth and there’s a ton there, you just expel it a lot more.
“We’re not seeing inside infection like a fever that causes your whole body to be sick because the lung isn’t as inflamed and we’re seeing outside infection.
“Runny nose, congestion, earache because it’s all congested up here.”
Scientists at Stanford University have carried out tests on an inner ear model exposed to Covid, to see how the virus affects the system.
They noted it can spark inner-ear symptoms, which people might not realise are a sign of Covid.
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Dr Konstantina Stankovic said: “If you notice hearing loss or dizziness or ringing in your ears, don’t dismiss them.
“Get tested formally. In some of our patients, we’ve seen that hearing loss is the only sign of Covid infection.”
If you think you have Covid from any known symptom you get a test and isolate for five days full days and take lateral flows to be released.
Today we revealed an expert has warned positive cases might be being missed now due to swabs not picking up Omicron in some people.
Professor Tim Spector, from the ZOE Covid Symptom Study, told the Sun Online the variant could be settling in the gut rather than the nose.
This means, when people are infected and experiencing gut symptoms like an upset stomach they will test negative – as there won’t be traces of Omicron in the nose or mouth.
He explained: “We know that this virus travels to different parts of the body.
“It’s possible that Omicron or another variant is attacking the gut.
“And this would not be showing in the nose – so you could have a gut infection but not show up as positive.
“We could be missing quite a few cases simply by swabbing the nose.”
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