With the data “under constant review”, the latest research from the Covid Symptom Study – led by Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London – revealed two emerging symptoms of an Omicron infection. An analysis of the contributions put forward by infected individuals show that a loss of appetite and brain fog are emerging as “common symptoms” of the Omicron variant. Other “top” symptoms include: a runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and a sore throat.
Although it’s “early days”, such a trend has been attributed to the majority of contributors to the Covid Symptom Study having been vaccinated.
More than 28,978,244 people have now had their booster jab, and more than 47,051,876 people have had two Covid vaccines.
The experts at the Covid Symptom Study warned, however, that “if the rate of cases gets very high, we will inevitably see a high volume of death and hospitalisation”.
An Omicron infection is also predicted to leave one in 50 people with long-term symptoms that disrupts a person’s day-to-day life.
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Scientists from Imperial College London noted: “Omicron largely evades immunity from past infection or two vaccine doses.”
Dr Sabine van Elsland, from Imperial College London, hypothesised that “reinfection with the Omicron variant is 5.4 times greater than that of the Delta variant”.
Dr Elsland elaborated: “This implies that the protection against reinfection by Omicron afforded by past infection may be as low as 19 percent.”
Research suggests that there is an increased risk of symptomatic infection with Omicron compared to the Delta variant.
The NHS said anybody who tests positive for Covid should “self-isolate immediately”.
Self-isolation include the day when symptoms began and the next 10 full days.
“If you were already self-isolating and had a test because you’ve been in close contact with someone who tested positive, your self-isolation period restarts if you test positive,” the NHS added.