The Omicron and BA.2 mixed strain dubbed ‘Stealth Omicron’ has quickly become the dominant Covid variant in the UK after arriving at the end of last year. After spreading across the UK, experts noticed Omicron presented different symptoms compared to the most common seen previously, including a cough, fever and loss of taste or smell.
And the NHS recently updated its list of official Covid symptoms to include several others, including headaches, shortness of breath, a blocked or runny nose and aching muscles. Scientists have shared two early signs of the coronavirus variant as thousands of people continue to test positive.
Covid can impact people very differently with varying levels of severity – and some people who test positive experience no symptoms at all, Daily Record reports. And experts have identified two symptoms that people may not traditionally associate with Covid – fatigue and dizziness or fainting.
Read more: 8 Covid symptoms that are appearing in vaccinated people
Fatigue is more than just feeling tired. It is feeling pain in your body, sore and weak muscles, headaches, blurred vision and possibly even a loss of appetite. A Web MD poll between December 23 and January 4 found that 40% of women reported they struggled with fatigue while it hit one third of men.
It is believed Omicron could trigger fainting, according to a new report in Germany when Berlin doctors noticed a 35-year-old patient was having recurring fainting spells. According to local reports, doctors spotted a “clear connection” between the fainting and the virus.
It comes as a recent study found that these symptoms – including dizziness and fatigue – often persist even after infection and can cause problems with forgetfulness. Almost 80 percent of Long Covid patients experienced difficulty concentrating, 69 percent reported brain fog, and 68 percent reported forgetfulness.
The severity of these symptoms were linked to the level of fatigue and neurological symptoms, like dizziness and headache, experienced during a person’s initial Covid illness. Half the patients reported difficulty getting medical professionals to take their symptoms seriously.
The University of Cambridge researchers added: “Perhaps because cognitive symptoms do not get the same attention as lung problems or fatigue.” The authors say their results support other findings suggesting society will face a “long tail” of workforce illness due to lasting effects of the virus.
“Long Covid has received very little attention politically or medically,” said senior author Dr Lucy Cheke. “It urgently needs to be taken more seriously, and cognitive issues are an important part of this. When politicians talk about ‘Living with Covid’ – that is, unmitigated infection, this is something they ignore. The impact on the working population could be huge.”