Omicron and Delta variant symptoms
The Omicron variant of coronavirus, which has spread to most parts of the world, is different from the original strain in many ways. The symptoms, recovery speed, severity and transmission rate, all these factors vary, making it essential to gather fresh information on the new variant to deal with it more competently. The previous hallmark symptoms of coronavirus like fever, cough, and loss of taste or smell are slowly dwindling in the case of omicron. Instead, other non-prominent signs similar to cold such as sore throat, sneezing, and runny nose are being seen more prominently.
As per the Zoe COVID Symptom study, the symptoms of omicron are more like cold, particularly among those who have been fully vaccinated. The Zoe COVID study is a smartphone app developed during the pandemic to log how hundreds of thousands of people are feeling daily when suffering from coronavirus across the UK. The study helps us understand how the symptoms have changed over time, particularly in the case of Omicron and delta variants. It also revealed the most prevalent signs in case of omicron.
Also See: Coronavirus: How Omicron symptoms may vary in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated individuals
Common COVID symptoms: Omicron vs Delta
Several studies carried out in the past two months to understand the nature of the omicron reveal that the variant is comparatively milder than Delta, but the rate of transmission is higher. As far as the symptoms of the two variants go, runny nose, headache, fatigue, sore throat are four fairly common signs in both. Chills and fever are occasional. When infected with the Delta variant of COVID-19, sneezing and loss of smell and taste can also be witnessed. But in Omicron sneezing is common and loss of smell and taste is rare. Persistent cold is also typical in Delta, but not in Omicron.
Omicron symptoms from most to least common
Even the hierarchy in which symptoms appear in the case of Omicron is different from the original strain and Delta variant. As per the data gathered from the study, a runny nose is the first sign, followed by headache, fatigue and sneezing. Almost 73 per cent of people down with coronavirus in the third wave, caused by the Omicron variant, had a runny nose. 68 per cent had a headache, 64 per cent experienced fatigue and 60 per cent had sneezing issues. However, the study did not clarify how many vaccinated and unvaccinated people experienced these typical symptoms.
Why is there a difference in COVID symptoms?
In the past two years, several variants of coronavirus were detected from different parts of the world. Each of them was a mutated version of the original strain caused due to environmental and other factors. So naturally, they exhibited different properties and symptoms. No two variants had the same nature and acted similarly. That's the prominent reason why there has been a shift in the symptoms. Besides, vaccination also plays a major role in reducing the severity of the coronavirus infection and cutting down the risk of long symptoms and hospitalization.