As Covid cases are rising across Scotland, a Covid expert has spoken about new symptoms that those with the latest strain of the virus are experiencing - including one that appears at night.
Irish professor Luke O'Neill said the newly identified sign of BA.5 variant of Omicron was published yesterday. This comes as the number of people across the UK contracting the virus has increased with one in 17 people in Scotland infected, according to the latest data.
While there are no new restrictions in place, hospitals are asking visitors to wear a mask and take care. Hospital admissions are also rising as Scotland records their highest rate of Covid-19 since April.
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Speaking to Newstalk’s Pat Kenny, Prof O’Neill said that the sub-variant BA.5 has thrown a 'curveball', noting that it is the dominant variant that is out there. BA.4 and BA.5 are sub-variants of Omicron.
As the Irish Mirror reports, the Prof O'Neill said there are some key differences in the symptoms being reported - and people need to be aware of them.
He said: "One extra symptom for BA.5 I saw this morning is night sweats," he said. "The disease is slightly different because the virus has changed. There is some immunity to it, with the T cells and so on, and that mix of your immune system and the virus being slightly different might give rise to a slightly different disease - with strangely enough - night sweats being a feature.”
As the virus mutates and changes, Prof O’Neill said there is one key thing that is continuing to protect people from the most severe Covid effects: "Very importantly, if you're vaccinated and you're boosted, it doesn't progress into severe disease. Remember the ones who are getting sickest are unvaccinated or haven't had the booster. Hence the message: get the booster because it will give you this added protection.”
While the available vaccines are still considered our best protection against the virus right now, Prof O’Neill says he believes new ones will be developed ahead of the expected winter surge.
He explained: "Both Pfizer and Moderna have said they'll have an Omicron vaccine by September, and they'll have a BA.4/5 by October. But the current one is still giving good protection anyway. Like the flu, you'll change the vaccine based on the variant that's around at the time.”
Edinburgh Live reported earlier on the latest covid hotspots with areas in Leith showing some of the highest rates of infections in the city.
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