Triple-vaccinated people who are getting Covid are reporting four main symptoms, according to researchers at Imperial College London. The data, collected as part of the Real-Time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study, questioned the experiences of 17,000 of people – vaccinated and unvaccinated – who tested positive for Covid between May 2020 and March 2022. The study showed that four “cold-like” symptoms affecting them included sneezing and a hoarse voice.
Researchers found that, with every variant, the proportion of people reporting any symptoms has increased. According to a report in the Express, it was found that over 5,000 vaccinated people who were infected with recent strains of Covid suffered symptoms that affected their day-to-day lives.
The study said: “In a subgroup of 5,598 double- and triple-vaccinated swab-positive individuals with [Omicron] BA.1 or BA.2, those infected with BA.2 were 54% more likely to report symptoms that interfered with their ability to carry out day-to-day activities ‘a lot’.” People in this group reported four specific symptoms: runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, and hoarse voice. BA.1 was the first Omicron variant that appeared around November 2021 in South Africa.
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Today, a new variant called BQ1 is becoming the dominant variant. But the study suggests that symptoms might not settle down with the change in variants. It found that the BA.2 variant caused 75.9 percent of people infected to have symptoms. This is compared to 70 percent for BA.1, 63.8 percent for the Delta variant, and 54.7 percent for the Alpha variant.
Other research has suggested that thousands of vaccinated people are still experiencing many of the symptoms reported in the REACT study. The ZOE Health study, which collects the reports of people with Covid through a mobile app, found that sore throat is the most common symptom for fully vaccinated people.
People with two vaccinations
Most common symptoms for people with two vaccinations according to the ZOE Health study ranking
- Sore throat
- Runny nose
- Blocked nose
- Persistent cough
- Headache
Professor Paul Elliott, Director of the REACT programme, said: “Our study has shown that symptoms from COVID-19 have changed over two years of the pandemic as different variants of the virus have become dominant. This is against a background of changing immunity from prior infection and vaccination. Understanding these changing symptom profiles may help in identifying individuals who are at higher risk of transmission of the virus.”
People who are unvaccinated
The “top” symptoms of Covid are similar for those who are unvaccinated. The ZOE Health study listed these as the top symptoms for the unvaccinated:
- Headache
- Sore Throat
- Runny Nose
- Fever
- Persistent cough
The BQ1 variant of Omicron has been found in roughly around half of the Covid cases in the UK. According to Professor Stephen Powis, medical director of the NHS, the NHS is expecting this to be the “most challenging winter yet” for the health body. Among the reasons, he cited the increase in patients with Covid and the presence of BQ1. He said: “In some countries in Europe that have it you can already see growth in hospital admissions. No doubt these pressures will increase.”
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