Coronavirus: The Omicron BA.5 symptom reported to be 'predominant'

Over the past two years, many versions of the SARs-CoV-2 virus have emerged and posed different health challenges. While the Delta was the most dangerous and the second wave in India took a massive toll on people's lives and the healthcare system, the Omicron has been quite forgiving, although experts believe it can still negatively impact people from the high risk groups.

Currently, the Omicron subvariant BA.5 has become dominant in several parts of the world, including the United States of America. While the new variant is said to be milder, scientists claim it is more transmissible and can evade both natural and vaccine-induced immunity. Furthermore, experts have come to the fore and suggested that the symptoms caused by Omicron subvariant BA.5 are slightly different from the original symptoms of COVID-19.

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The COVID we knew back in 2020 has surely evolved over the course of two years. It has had its peak with the Delta variant and is now less dangerous with the Omicron, which was first discovered in November, 2021. While the latter is said to be milder, doctors believe it is extremely transmissible, which is why it became a dominant strain in no time.

With BA.5 subvariant, there has been a growing change in the kind of symptoms that usually show up.

A recent ZOE Health study, it was found that the Omicron is far less likely to impact the lower respiratory tract, which is where the virus seems to cause more damage and give light to severe symptoms. This means that unlike the Delta, Omicron is less capable of causing severe symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain. So what are the kinds of symptoms we can expect?

Taking to Zoe’s YouTube channel, Professor Tim Spector shared that the latest COVID symptoms may be different from the original symptoms.

According to him, the prevalent sign that is linked to the Omicron BA.5 strain is sore throat.

He says, “[Symptoms] seem to have changed a little bit now that Omicron BA.5 is really dominant in the UK.

“Sore throat is still the predominant symptom here, followed by headache," he adds.

As a matter of fact, based on the app data, scratchy throat was reported in 63 percent of the Zoe Covid app users, making it a 'predominant' sign.

Furthermore, sore throat is said to be an “early” symptom of coronavirus, according to Zoe.

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As per the data from the Zoe Covid app, other common Omicron signs included:

- Runny nose

- Cough with phlegm

- Hoarse voice

- Sneezing

- Fatigue

- Muscle pains

- Dizziness.

While loss of sense of smell and taste was a common symptom during the Delta wave and the second wave of coronavirus in India, it has become a less frequent sign of COVID in recent times.

Prof. Spector says, “It's things like altered smell, it’s the one that's really the lowest here. Fifteen percent lower than it was, just in six weeks.

“[This] is good news because we think that BA.5 might affect the brain less [and] cause less long-term consequences," he adds.

Chest pain, chest tightness and shortness of breath are also some of the least reported symptoms of COVID.

It seems that with newer variants, the incubation period for COVID-19 has also decreased. i.e. the number of days between when you were infected to when you might see symptoms.

During a Facebook live, Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner, said that recent studies have shown that the incubation period for COVID-19 has shortened with newer variants on the rise.

"So if you go back to like alpha variant, beta, delta - early on, it was about a five-day incubation period on average. So, if you were exposed to COVID, on average we were seeing people take about five days for someone to end up testing positive - and remember that went from four to five, out to 10, out to 14," she said.

"The reason ... we only use 10 days now, it is because that timing has shortened. And so, more recently with BA.4, BA.5, that's all the way down to about three days now. So on average, people are testing positive about 3 days after, but you can have someone positive up to 10 days," the expert adds.

Although the worst seems to be over and with milder illnesses, we can manage the symptoms at home, it is still important that we stay vigilant and protect ourselves and others from the virus.

Wearing a well-fitted mask still seems to protect against the SARs-CoV-2 virus. Maintaining social distance is key, especially when you or anybody else displays flu-like cold symptoms.

Furthermore, getting your COVID shots is extremely necessary, so as to avoid any severe illnesses.