Two new symptoms have been reported in people infected with the Omicron variant.

Omicron is currently sweeping across the UK, with the number of infections exceeding 100,000. Although the new variant is considered mild, there are some new symptoms to watch out for.

According to the UK National Health Service, previous symptoms of Covid-19 typically included fever, persistent cough, and loss or changes in sense of smell/taste. However, those infected...OmicronThere are several distinct symptoms. Recently, doctors have noted two symptoms: nausea and loss of appetite.

Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, explains that these symptoms tend to be common in people who have received 2-3 doses of the vaccine.

Illustration photo: Reuters

Professor Spector said, "Quite a few of them experienced nausea, mild fever, sore throat, and headache." Some cases involved vomiting.

The five most common symptoms in patients currently infected with Delta and Omicron are runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat.

The only way to know for sure if you are infected with the Omicron variant is to do a PCR test. Most PCR tests target certain parts of the viral genome, including the S gene. Omicron has a mutation here, so PCR will not detect it. Therefore, if the test is positive but the S gene is absent, it indicates that the patient is infected with Omicron.

According to two preliminary studies published last week, Omicron appears to be milder than Delta. People infected with the new variant have a 40 to 70% lower risk of hospitalization. Symptoms tend to resemble a common cold.

However, because Omicron tends to spread very quickly, the number of cases is increasing significantly. Therefore, scientists fear that even with a low hospitalization rate, the total number of severe cases will still be very high, putting pressure on the healthcare systems of various countries.