COVID-19: Symptoms updated, do you know them?
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The new coronavirus is benign in 80% of cases according to the WHO. However, some patients develop complications. These discomforts can be of cardiac, neurological or renal order. An Italian study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, also reports on thyroid disorders.
Scientists have described the case of an 18-year-old woman with a mild form of Covid-19. 15 days after a positive diagnostic test, the patient presented fever, neck pain, and palpitations. Physical examination revealed "an increased heart rate and an enlarged and painful thyroid upon palpation." His blood tests showed an increase in the level of T3 and T4 thyroid hormones, "undetectable TSH markers" and "high white blood cells." It is specified that "one month earlier, thyroid function and images were normal". The research team diagnosed subacute thyroiditis (SAT), a viral or post-viral thyroid disease. "Neck pain and fever recovered within two days and remaining symptoms within one week. Thyroid function and inflammatory markers normalized within 40 days," the researchers said. They concluded: "We are reporting the first case of subacute thyroiditis after SARS-CoV-2 infection. We are alerting physicians to additional and unreported clinical manifestations associated with Covid-19."
What are the first symptoms of coronavirus?
According to the WHO, the incubation time of the virus, that is, the time between contamination and the first symptoms, varies from 1 to 14 days. In rarer cases, symptoms can appear overnight. She recently incorporated difficulty speaking or moving as new symptoms. These new indications join those already defined in the event of a possible Covid-19 case; such as fever, dry cough, tiredness, shortness of breath, chest tightness, nasal congestion, headache, conjunctivitis, diarrhea, loss of taste or smell, rashes, or color changes in the fingers or toes.
What are the symptoms and risks in babies and children?
According to UNICEF, "in children and young people, the effects of the virus are relatively mild, with a very small proportion of them in serious or critical condition due to the coronavirus." In most cases, the infection is not very symptomatic or asymptomatic. If young children and babies are less affected by adults than Covid-19, they can become infected and thus transmit the disease. However, pediatricians alerted to the appearance of a condition close to Kawasaki disease, a vascular syndrome affecting young children, which incidentally killed for the first time in France on May 14. Doctors reported that the nine-year-old victim had contracted the coronavirus. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea, rashes, etc.
Are fever and body aches symptoms of the coronavirus?
As with seasonal flu, fever and body aches are very common symptoms of Covid-19. The level of fever varies from one individual to another, but generally the coronavirus causes a fever higher than 38 °. If you want to fight fever or pain, take acetaminophen over anti-inflammatory drugs and ibuprofen, which is suspected to worsen symptoms in coronavirus. If in doubt, stay home and call your doctor.
Does the coronavirus cause a dry or oily cough?
Covid patients have a dry, sometimes oily cough. This cough, if it cannot be controlled, should alert: "When you see that you are coughing to drown, you are said to need respiratory help." However, in most cases, this cough goes away on its own. The WHO advises calling your doctor if you have a dry cough.
What is anosmia, a particular symptom of the coronavirus?
Several specialists alerted the authorities in mid-March to the appearance of a new symptom: anosmia (loss of smell). These losses of smell seem to be a pathognomonic symptom, a clinical sign that can only establish the diagnosis. This symptom is the only specific presentation of the new coronavirus. Dr. Corré, an otolaryngologist at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris, theorized: "The SARS Cov-2 virus is attracted to nerves: when it enters the nose, instead of attacking the mucosa as it does in common rhinoviruses , attacks the olfactory nerve and blocks odor molecules. " The doctor assured: "In the current context, if you have anosmia without nasal congestion, you are Covid positive, it is not worth the test."
How to detect the shortness of breath corresponding to the coronavirus?
Shortness of breath is another symptom of the coronavirus that can be a sign of worsening disease, which attacks the respiratory tract and can lead to pneumonia.to serious. This complication occurs in some patients from the seventh day, with renewed fever, sometimes after a slight phase of improvement. Shortness of breath often occurs suddenly and occurs with the slightest physical effort, such as moving or climbing the stairs. To detect it when in doubt, measure your respiratory rate. Beyond 20 to 25 breaths per minute, it is a tachypnea (increased respiratory rate) and it may be advisable to consult a doctor if you have other symptoms.
Can coronavirus trigger digestive disorders?
A Chinese study, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, found that coronavirus patients can also be affected by digestive disorders. The study reports that of 206 tested Covid-19 cases, with an average age of 55 years, "almost half (48.5%) went to the hospital for various digestive disorders such as diarrhea (29.3%), vomiting (8%) or abdominal pain (4%). " Even more surprising, some patients (7) had digestive problems, but no respiratory symptoms, which are the most common signs of the new coronavirus.
Is the coronavirus related to dermatological symptoms?
Several scientific articles have reported a link between cases of freezing and infection with the new coronavirus. To confirm or deny a possible correlation, the Dermatology Service of the Clinics of the Saint-Luc University (Belgium) carried out a study. 47 subjects, with an average age of 26.5 years, were included in this experiment. The research team said in a statement that "more than half of them reported having had other suggestive manifestations of Covid-19 (including fever, cough, cold, digestive upset)." For each patient, various examinations were carried out, in particular PCR and serological tests for the detection of Covid-19. The scientists concluded that "nasopharyngeal smears and Covid-19 serologies were negative for all 47 patients. Therefore, the study does not establish a direct association between freezing and Covid-19." The scientists have presented "another hypothesis to explain the appearance of frostbite in these people: confinement and the sedentary lifestyle it implies. Immobility can cause a reduction in blood perfusion in the extremities, which would contribute to developing frostbite."
What are the aggravating symptoms of coronavirus?
Coronavirus infection is worrisome because people are "breathing faster than normal," said Dr. Pauti, who tells his patients to call the doctor as soon as they notice shortness of breath. These brutal aggravations often intervene between the seventh and fourteenth days. They result in a form of bilateral pneumonia, with a very specific radiological appearance.
Jessica J Manson, a specialist in inflammatory phenomena at University College Hospital, London, said in The Lancet medical journal: "There is increasing evidence to suggest that some of the patients with severe forms of Covid-19 are subjects of cytokine shock syndrome " Theoretically, in case of infection, cytokines allow the regulation of immune action. However, with "the cytokine storm", we observed a runaway of this system leading to a hyperinflammatory reaction.
Does the coronavirus cause kidney problems?
The new coronavirus can affect the kidneys. Alan Kliger, a nephrologist at Yale School of Medicine, reported in the Washington Post: "Almost half of those hospitalized with covid-19 have blood or protein in their urine." More alarmingly, a newspaper-reported survey reports that 14-30% of intensive care patients in New York and Wuhan, China, lose their kidney function and require dialysis. People with kidney disease are more prone to these deteriorations. In fact, they often have problems with diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. However, Dr. Brad Rovin, director of the department of nephrology at Ohio State University, said "many cases who have never had kidney disease before develop severe kidney damage." He explained, "Depending on the severity and duration of infection while fighting Covid-19, these patients can develop chronic kidney disease." Dr. Brad Rovin said, "I think we will see the long-term consequences of this disease in the nephrology departments."
Does the coronavirus cause neurological disorders?
Some Covid-19 patients have neurological conditions. A study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association (Jama) reports that of 214 Chinese patients, 36% had neurological symptoms, ranging from loss of smell to nerve pain, seizures, and strokes. reference is sometimes due to lack of oxygen in the blood, some professionals in thehealth suggest other hypotheses. The first is due to an abnormal immune response, a "cytokine storm," which causes inflation in the brain called autoimmune encephalitis. The second is a direct brain infection: viral encephalitis. To discover the origin of these disorders, a data collection project is underway.
Additionally, American doctors have observed an increase in strokes in young and middle-aged Covid patients. To document this phenomenon, the Washington Post reported that three large American medical centers are preparing to publish data. Pascal Jabbour, a neurosurgeon at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, said many cases have unusual characteristics. Clots usually appear in the arteries that carry blood away from the heart. However, in Covid-19 patients, clots also form in the veins and are more difficult to treat. Sherry H-Y Chou, a neurologist at the University Hospital of Pittsburgh, hypothesized that these conditions were caused by a "friendly fire," that is, a disproportionate immune response. If you notice symptoms of a stroke (dizziness; numbness and flabbiness of part of the face, arm, leg or part of the body; speech problems ...) contact a doctor as soon as possible.
What are the consequences of the coronavirus?
Coronavirus can cause different levels of sequelae. Xavier Lescure, professor and infectious disease specialist at the Bichat hospital in Paris, explained "We do not believe there are any side effects for people who have had weak symptoms." On the other hand, in seriously affected patients, the consequences will be indelible. The lungs are the first organs affected. A 3D video (produced by researchers at George Washington University Hospital in the United States) reveals that lung tissue is severely damaged in severely affected patients. Keith Mortman, head of the department of thoracic surgery, theorized: "When this inflammation subsides, it leaves scars in the lungs and creates long-term damage. This can impair a patient's breathing capacity in the future." Autopsies confirm that severely affected patients develop pulmonary fibrosis. Xavier Lescure explained: "We see that people who die have large injuries related to lung inflammation."
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