by: Kevin Freeman
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CLEVELAND (WJW)– Each day, doctors learn more about the coronavirus. Now, they say there are new symptoms.
Health experts said a cough or shortness of breath are just two of the symptoms that could indicate a COVID-19 infection.
“There are a lot of folks who get COVID that don’t actually have a fever, or maybe have a fever much later in the onset of their illness,” said Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton.
The main symptoms caused by the coronavirus have become very well known to most Ohioans: a fever, cough, shortness of breath or trouble breathing.
On Tuesday, during a daily coronavirus briefing, Acton announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has added new symptoms for people to consider.
“Chills and shaking, even without fever, has been a symptom, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and you’ve probably been hearing about a loss of taste and smell,” Acton said.
“These are symptoms that were known about all along that coronavirus patients are reporting, but they’ve finally been put into the official list of the coronavirus symptoms by the CDC,” said Dr. Amy Edwards, an infectious disease physician with University Hospitals in Cleveland.
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Edwards said although there are more symptoms that could be caused by COVID-19, some are more indicative than others.
“Certainly the cough with the chest pain or the trouble breathing, I think is kind of the most definitive symptom and that’s the one that’s been there from the beginning. These others are much more non-specific and are kind of common in a lot of viral illnesses, with the one exception being the loss of taste and smell,” Edwards said.
Although the newer symptoms, such as chills and headache, can be associated with other respiratory diseases, like the flu, Edwards said right now few patients, who come in, are diagnosed with those types of illnesses.
“All the rates of these other viruses just plummeted down to almost zero. We’re seeing very, very few cases of these other viruses, even while we were continuing to see coronavirus spread in the population… We’re testing for them, but we’re not seeing them at all,” Edwards said.
Edwards reminds everyone that if you feel any of the symptoms mentioned, it is always a good idea to contact your doctor.
Of course, if you’re having trouble breathing or need more urgent attention, she said hospital emergency rooms are safe.
