UAE: How are the latest Covid-19 symptoms different from previous variants?

UAE: How are the latest Covid-19 symptoms different from previous variants?

Omicron variant is highly contagious and can even infect vaccinated/infected people, say experts

By SM Ayaz Zakir Published: Fri 5 Aug 2022, 5:00 PM

Though Covid-19 has eased across the globe, the threat of infection still hovers around. Doctors in the UAE say that the latest Covid threat has been constituted by the subvariant of Omicron known as BA.5, which is highly contagious and can even infect vaccinated/infected people, according to scientists and researchers.

Medicos say that the symptoms of all the previous variants and the new variants are the same which include tiredness, body ache, runny nose, mild cough, loss of appetite, changes in smell or taste, breathing difficulty, fever, few gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhoea and a tender stomach, however the complexity and severity of the new variants are very mild.

“The recent variant is milder in intensity and the decline in health condition is also not very quick, but the transmission risk is quite high, as it spreads rapidly,” said Dr Mais M Mauwfak, specialist internal medicine and head of intensive care at Thumbay Hospital Ajman.

Addressing the severity of symptoms, Dr Mauwfak said that hospitalisation rates have decreased to a great extent as compared to patients infected with by earlier variants.

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