Research on the new omicron sub-variant BA.5 is still ongoing, but it is already clear to scientists that it has many differences. BA.5, for example, is much more contagious, and a person can be re-infected even within a few weeks. It is also distinguished from previous strains of Covid-19 by the variety of symptoms.
“One additional symptom observed in patients with the BA.5 variant is night sweats. The disease progresses slightly differently because the virus has changed,” said Professor Luke O’Neill.
Covid-19 strains BA.5, together with BA.4, are causing an increase in the number of cases in several countries, including Europe and Australia. It has also become the dominant variant in the US.
“Humans already have some immunity to BA.5 – apparently with T-cells and so on – and this slightly different mix of the immune system and the virus may cause a slightly different illness, which strangely also includes night sweats,” the professor added.
The new strain also has other atypical symptoms. Professor Tim Spektor, the founder of the “Covid Zoe” app, previously emphasized that fatigue in the morning, immediately after a good night’s rest, even if it was good, as well as a feeling of pain in the neck, can signal the presence of a Covid-19 infection.
He added that until now neck pain was rarely seen as a symptom of the omicron variant, which was one of the first symptoms of the delta variant, but with the spread of the new sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, the neck pain has returned.
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