March 18, 2020 — As testing for COVID-19 expands, cases are being picked up across the U.S., confirming what disease experts have predicted: that the virus has been here for a few times and is making people sick please know the symptoms of covid-19.
That can make the occasional cough or sneeze suspicious. is that this COVID-19? How would you recognize if you’ve got it?
The most detailed breakdown of symptoms of the disease comes from a recent World Health Organization analysis of quite 55,000 confirmed cases in China. Here are the foremost common symptoms and therefore the percentage of individuals who had them:
- Fever: 88%
- Dry cough: 68%
- Fatigue: 38%
- Coughing up sputum, or thick phlegm, from the lungs: 33%
- Shortness of breath: 19%
- Bone or joint pain: 15%
- Sore throat: 14%
- Headache: 14%
- Chills: 11%
- Nausea or vomiting: 5%
- Stuffy nose: 5%
- Diarrhea: 4%
- Coughing up blood: 1%
- Swollen eyes: 1%
COVID-19 may be a lower tract infection, which suggests that the majority of the symptoms are felt within the chest and lungs. That’s different from colds that cause an upper tract infection, where you get a runny nose and sinus congestion. Those symptoms seem to be mostly absent for people with COVID-19, though they’re not unprecedented.
The good news is that in China, most of the people who have gotten sick — about 80% — have had mild to moderate symptoms.
Given that, doctors feel that the majority of people within the U.S. are going to be ready to manage their symptoms reception.
If you begin to point out symptoms, call your doctor’s office. Don’t go there before calling — which may spread the infection around the doctor’s office. they’ll want to speak to you on the phone during a telemedicine visit.
The average time it takes people to urge sick after being exposed to the virus is about 5 days. Some people get sick faster, just each day after being exposed, while others don’t fall ill for about 2 weeks, which is why the U.S. has quarantined people for 14 days.
In a recent press briefing, Nancy Messonnier, MD, director of the CDCs National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said the virus spreads easily from person to person which nobody has immunity against it because it’s new.
“Based on this, it’s fair to mention that because the trajectory of the outbreak continues, many of us within us will at some point in time, either this year or next, be exposed to the present virus and lots of will get sick. We don’t expect most of the people to develop serious illness,” she said.
About 14% of individuals in China who tested positive for COVID-19 — about 1 in 5 — have had severe symptoms, which incorporates trouble catching their breath, rapid breathing (taking quite 30 breaths during a minute), and low oxygen in their blood. These patients need extra oxygen and sometimes specialized equipment to assist them to breathe. In China, these patients were hospitalized.
About 1 in 20 patients were in critical condition. These patients developed respiratory failure and organ failure.
People who seem to be at the highest risk for serious illness from COVID-19 are adults over the age of 60 or people that have underlying medical conditions like a high vital sign, diabetes, heart condition, lung disease, or cancer. the very best number of deaths in China — 22% — has been in adults over age 80.
“This would require you and your family to require action,” Messonnier said.
She advised taking everyday precautions:
- Avoid people that are sick.
- Wash your hands often.
- Avoid touching surfaces publicly places (like elevator buttons and door handles).
- Avoid crowds.
The CDC and therefore the State Department also is urging Americans to avoid cruise ships for the duration of the epidemic, especially if you’re at high risk for serious illness. People at high risk shouldn’t fly unless it’s necessary.
