- Experts say the Omicron variant appears to have symptoms similar to other coronavirus variants.
- They say fever, cough, and shortness of breath are among the symptoms. So are muscle aches.
- However, some people who have been diagnosed with Omicron so far don’t report a significant loss of taste and smell.
- Experts say Omicron symptoms appear to be relatively mild so far.
- However, experts note that could help the virus spread, because people might not get tested and transmit the virus unknowingly.
The coronavirus Omicron variant, first reported by South African officials last week, has arrivedTrusted Source in the United States.
It has the potential to become the most infectious form of the novel coronavirus so far.
Or not, depending on what research reveals in the coming weeks.
Early evidence suggests, however, that the symptoms caused by the Omicron variant are similar to those linked to other variants of the coronavirus, and could even be less severe than the now-dominant Delta variant.
The Omicron variant is raising concerns because it has “several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source.
“The concern with this is the large number of mutations on the virus’s spike protein, which has the potential to be more transmissible and get around our immunity and vaccines,” Rebekah Ann Vreeland Sensenig, DO, an infectious disease expert at Riverside Health System in Virginia, told Healthline.
Vaccines target the coronavirus spike protein to alert the immune system to attack the virus.
WHO officials said it remains unclear whether Omicron is either more transmissible or causes more severe cases than other variants.
Limited data does suggest there may be an increased risk of infection with Omicron for people who have already had COVID-19, however.
“The number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this variant, but epidemiological studies are underway to understand if it is because of Omicron or other factors,” according to WHO officials.
“Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron,” officials added.Sensenig said it will likely take several more weeks of research to determine Omicron’s virulence and severity.
“The majority of hospitalizations from COVID-19 happen 2 weeks or more after infection,” she noted.
“The good news is that everything we’re hearing from South Africa suggests that [Omicron’s] symptoms seem to be milder than Delta’s,” Sensenig said, although she noted this could be due to the variant mostly infecting college aged people whose immune systems may be better able to fight off the disease.
The WHO also said there is “currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants.”
Sensenig said some South African doctors have reported less loss of taste or smell and more muscle aches among people with Omicron infections, but otherwise symptoms track closely to those of other variants, such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
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