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The NHS – for all its amazing work – recognizes only three main symptoms of the coronavirus, but the evidence points to much more. Mass testing is generally prohibited when those infected do not qualify for a Covid test. Many people can walk into supermarkets without knowing that they are carriers of the notorious SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid disease. Imperial College London collected swab tests and questionnaires as part of its REACT study.
The samples and papers were collected between June 2020 and January 2021, with alarming results.
Four symptoms not officially recognized (by the NHS) have been revealed to be strongly linked to a Covid infection.
These were: chills, loss of appetite, headaches and muscle pain – alongside the classic symptoms.
The classic symptoms, recognized by the NHS, are:
- Another cough continues
- High temperature
- Loss or change in your sense of smell or taste
READ MORE: What are the nine cohorts for the Covid vaccine?
They were also more likely to report fever, persistent cough, and loss of appetite compared to adults.
People aged 55 or older also experienced more loss of appetite than young adults.
People over the age of 17 but under the age of 54 – who tested positive for the coronavirus – were more likely to report muscle pain.
However, around 60% of those infected did not report any symptoms in the week before their Covid test.
Professor Paul Elliott commented on the REACT study: “These new findings suggest that many people with COVID-19 will not be tested.”
The REACT program director continued: “Therefore [infected individuals] will not self-isolate because their symptoms do not match those used in current public health guidelines.
“I hope our findings on the most informative symptoms mean that the screening program can take advantage of the most recent evidence, helping to identify more infected people.
Using the data, the researchers noted that the Kent Covid variant was less likely to cause someone to lose their sense of smell.
Instead, Kent’s variant was strongly associated with a new, persistent cough.
Dr Joshua Elliott, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, said: ‘As the epidemic progresses and new variants emerge, it is essential that we continue to monitor how the virus is affecting people so that testing programs meet changing needs.
“We hope our data will help guide testing and develop systems that could help better identify people who should be tested for COVID-19 based on their symptoms.”
The REACT pre-print document has not yet been peer reviewed.
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