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Warta Ekonomi.co.id, Jakarta
Some people who tested positive for Covid-19 were found to have no symptoms. Infectious disease experts say the virus may have spread before cities began lockdown and even before many countries imposed social distancing orders.
“Over time, it has become evident that this is a virus that is spreading widely across our country, especially in more densely populated areas, faster than we thought,” said specialist in infectious diseases and professor at Vanderbilt University, doctor William Schaffner. Men’s Health.
Also Read: How long can Covid-19 patients transmit to others?
According to Schaffner, it could be that someone has actually contracted the corona virus without knowing it. Moreover, anyone can experience no symptoms and some of the symptoms of Covid-19 resemble those of other diseases such as the common cold.
“Most people who have coronavirus have cases of infection that are not complicated, and they can be distinguished from the common cold or flu due to the corona virus,” explained Amesh A. Adalja, an infectious disease expert who is also a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know with 100 percent certainty whether the disease that was previously experienced is Covid-19. However, experts say there are some signs that could be clues that someone may have contracted Covid-19.
The following are signs that someone may have contracted Covid-19:
1. Never had a bad flu in early 2020
Early in the pandemic, people believed that Covid-19 didn’t start circulating until the end of February and March. However, new research from the University of Texas suggests otherwise.
For the study, scientists analyzed throat swabs taken late last year during the winter of people with suspected cases of the flu. This swab test was carried out in Wuhan, where the new coronavirus originated. As well as Seattle, Washington, where the first cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the US.
Researchers found that for every two cases of flu, there is one case of Covid-19. As a result, they believe Covid-19 may arrive around Christmas.
According to Schaffner, it can be difficult to distinguish the flu from the mild form of Covid-19 without testing, depending on your symptoms. However, colds usually don’t cause shortness of breath, severe headaches, or gastrointestinal symptoms like Covid-19.
The official symptoms of Covid-19 include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, loss of new taste or smell, and sore throat. Then, stuffy or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.
2. Losing the sense of smell or taste at one point
The loss of smell and taste has become the main characteristic of Covid-19. Although these symptoms do not occur in everyone, Dr Adalja points out that these symptoms are strongly associated with the new coronavirus.
Preliminary data from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) found that in Covid-19 patients who lost their sense of smell, 27 percent experienced improvement in about seven days. Meanwhile, most improve within 10 days.
However, it may also occur temporarily to lose your senses with other respiratory conditions, such as colds, flu, sinus infections, or even with seasonal allergies. However, experts say that the symptoms can persist in some people and last for months after recovering from Covid-19.
3. Have experienced hair loss for no apparent reason
This has not been studied much in the context of Covid-19. However, many people who have recovered from the virus report they have hair loss problems.
Members of Survivor Corps, a Facebook support group for people with Covid-19, also talked about experiencing hair loss months after recovering from illness. According to Dr Adalja, the condition known as telogen effluvium is caused by many factors, including pregnancy, extreme stress, weight loss, and illnesses other than Covid-19.
He emphasized that hair loss will not occur in people who have no symptoms of Covid-19, especially those who do not experience coughs or fever. Hair loss, he said, can also occur due to stress in general.
4. You sometimes feel claustrophobic
Research published in the journal JAMA found that people with Covid-19 can experience viral side effects, including shortness of breath. Possibly, this is due to prolonged inflammation in the lungs.
“This is one of the long-standing effects that are known in people diagnosed with Covid-19. If you have this, it is possible that the disease you had previously was actually Covid,” said Dr Schaffner.
5. Have had a cough that doesn’t go away
Participants in the JAMA study cited prolonged coughing as another symptom they experienced. According to doctor Adalja, the cough was often dry, meaning that nothing came out, like phlegm or mucus. The data found that 43 percent of people who had Covid-19 still coughed 14 to 21 days after testing positive for the virus.
6. You feel really tired
According to the JAMA study, feeling tired is one of the biggest lasting effects after a person has Covid-19. The study found 53 percent of patients said they were battling fatigue about 60 days after they first showed signs of the virus. “We saw some people with mild illness who experienced fatigue for some time,” said Dr Adalja.
However, he said, at this time it was not entirely clear why this was happening. It could be the way a person’s immune system reacts to a virus or it could be how the virus works in the body.
7. You have unusual symptoms that seem to last forever
Experts emphasize that Covid-19 is still a new virus so doctors and scientists continue to study it further. Research on the long-lasting effects of the virus is ongoing.
Therefore, Adalja said, it is currently difficult for doctors to say that having certain symptoms can mean that you have Covid-19 infection, while others do not. It’s worth mentioning that some people have had heart problems after contracting the virus.
There is one small study of 100 people who have recovered from Covid-19 published in JAMA Cardiology doing MRIs of former patients. They found that 78 percent of the patients had some kind of abnormal heart finding, regardless of the pre-existing condition.
It also did not appear to be related to disease severity, the researchers found. Dr. Schaffner says it can appear in many different ways, including random heart palpitations, but it can also be subtle.
Author: Editors
Editor: Puri Mei Setyaningrum
Photo: Sufri Yuliardi
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