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- Ελληνικά
The Omicron strain of coronavirus is now prevalent in the community, according to the Deputy Minister of Health, Mina Gaga. According to data from the National Public Health Organization (NPHO), the new mutation now accounts for more than 90% of cases detected on a daily basis.
As is already known, simple diagnostic tests (self, rapid and pcr) cannot distinguish whether someone is infected with Omicron or Delta or Alpha, as it requires genomic analysis, an extremely complex and time-consuming process.
And the symptoms of Omicron are very similar to those of the common cold, so more than a few people cannot tell if they are infected with coronavirus or another seasonal virus.
What are the symptoms of Omicron
Clinicians have listed a number of symptoms directly related to Covid-19 infection, including cough, fatigue, fever, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste. Also sometimes reported are nasal congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
But symptomatology differs between those who are unvaccinated, vaccinated with two doses and those who have also had a booster dose. For example, those vaccinated with two or three doses do not often experience fever, unlike the unvaccinated.
The medical literature also reports that vaccinated people generally report milder symptoms of Omicron, which are similar to those of the common cold.
Why does Omicron cause mild disease
Many also wonder if the milder symptoms are related to the Omicron mutation itself or to the fact that the sick people have already been vaccinated or in South Africa where the new strain first appeared the population has some kind of natural immunity?
Scientists answer that it may not be the mutation but human nature as we have now acquired a kind of immunity to the Covid-19 infection and therefore our body has "experience" in dealing with it. So it treats it as a common cold.
What are the symptoms of Omicron in unvaccinated people
In people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, Omicron has similar symptoms to Delta and previous variants of the coronavirus. This practically means that it can cause severe disease with the need for hospitalisation and even intensive care unit (ICU) admission or even death. So therefore an unvaccinated person should not consider the Omicron mutation a common cold because it is not.
Omicron can cause pneumonia and in unvaccinated people symptoms such as breathlessness, evidence of pneumonia have been recorded, as has been reported with the other prevalent mutations.
What should vaccinees who have symptoms of Covid-19
Vaccinees who have symptoms of common cold (nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, but no fever) then they may have Covid-19 and should definitely undergo at least a rapid test.
In case of a positive result in the diagnostic test, the good news is that the disease will be mild and they will be able to recover in about a week.
Source.gr
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