As Omicron spreads across Britain, the number of symptoms reported by those testing positive has grown.
The NHS lists the three main symptoms of Covid-19 as raised temperature, persistent cough and a loss of taste and smell.
But other reported symptoms have also come to the fore - including persistent sneezing.
Of course, having a burst of loud sneezes can happen for all sorts of reasons and advice remains to test regularly.
But it has been listed as one of five symptoms of Omicron that are 'particularly' showing up in the fully vaccinated, reports the Daily Express.
Omicron has proved to be highly transmissible, but thankfully, it has resulted in a milder illness than Delta and its predecessors.
This has been helped by growing herd immunity and the success of the vaccine rollout.
Professor Tim Spector, the lead scientist on the ZOE Covid Study, which has monitored the movements of the pandemic via millions of app users, wrote in newsGP that Omicron is continuing the trend from Delta with a number of other symptoms.
The appearance of the Delta variant came with a shift in the most frequently reported symptoms, he said, with cold-like symptoms - including a runny nose, sore throat and persistent sneezing – becoming more common, as well as a headache and cough, particularly in people who had been vaccinated.
And this trend has continued with Omicron, he said: "It’s causing symptoms that are much more like a regular cold, particularly in people who’ve been vaccinated, and fewer general systemic symptoms, such as nausea, muscle pains, diarrhoea and skin rashes."
The top five symptoms reported in the ZOE app were:
- Runny nose
- Headache
- Fatigue (either mild or severe)
- Sneezing
- Sore throat
Prof Spector and his team conducted an initial analysis of symptom data from positive cases in London, which had a higher prevalence of Omicron compared to other regions at the time.
The ZOE team found that only half of people with Covid had any of the classic three symptoms of fever, cough or loss of sense of smell.
