Although these wider symptoms were noted in addition to the familiar or so-called classic symptoms of loss of sense of smell, fever, and new persistent cough, about 60 percent of infected people reported no symptoms in the week leading up to the test, the Imperial College conducted a real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study in London on Wednesday.
“These new findings suggest that many people with COVID-19 will not be tested – and therefore will not be self-isolating – because their symptoms do not match those used in current public health guidelines to treat infected people. do not identify, “he said. Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program at Imperial.
“We understand that clear testing criteria are needed, and that the inclusion of many symptoms commonly found in other diseases such as seasonal flu can unnecessarily isolate people. I hope our findings on the most informative symptoms mean that the testing program can be used. make the latest evidence that helps identify more infected people, ”he said.
Swab tests and questionnaires collected between Jun 2020 and Jan 2021 as part of the study showed that among these other symptoms, cold fever, loss of appetite, headaches and muscle aches are most strongly associated with infection, besides the four so-called classic symptoms.
If you have any of these other or the classic symptoms, either alone or in combination, it was related to infection with the coronavirus, and the more symptoms people showed, the greater the chance that they would test positive.
The study also found that there were symptoms with age. Although chills were linked to positive tests at all ages, headaches were reported in young people aged 5 to 17 years, loss of appetite in 18-54 and 55+ and muscle pain in people between 18 and 54 years. Infected 5-17-year-olds are also less likely to report fever, persistent cough, and loss of appetite compared to adults.
The study also looked at whether the emergence of the new coronavirus variant from the UK, first identified in Kent, was linked to a different profile of symptoms. Although symptoms were generally the same, loss of sense or change in sense of smell was less predictable for COVID-19 in January this year, while the percentage of people who tested positive with a new persistent cough appeared to be increasing.
“As the epidemic progresses and new variants emerge, it is imperative that we constantly monitor how the virus affects people so that testing programs meet changing needs,” said Dr Joshua Elliott, of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London , said.
“We hope our data will help the testing guidelines and systems development that can better identify people who need to take a COVID-19 test based on their symptoms,” he said.
People in England are currently being encouraged to take a COVID-19 test if they have at least one of the four classic symptoms: loss of sense of taste, loss of sense of smell, fever, new persistent cough. This is called “Pillar 2 testing”.
Based on the new REACT study findings, the researchers estimate that the current Pillar 2 test will pick up about half of all symptomatic infections if all eligible ones are tested. But if the additional symptoms are included, it can be improved to up to three-quarters of the symptomatic infections.
The findings, issued as a pre-print report before being peer-reviewed, are part of the ongoing analysis of REACT-1, led by Imperial College London and conducted in partnership with Ipsos MORI. The real-time assessment of community transfer program is funded by the government’s Department of Health and Social Care.