Is sore throat a sign of COVID-19?
Sore throat is one of the hallmark symptoms of COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 is a member of the coronavirus group of viruses. These viruses affect not just humans but mammals of all shapes and sizes. Other common symptoms that have been observed by healthcare workers across the globe are fever, a general feeling of fatigue or malaise, and dry cough.
Some patients may also experience symptoms like developing joint and muscle pains or aches, congestion of the nasal passages, and migraines or headaches. A small percentage of patients develop discoloration and rashes that appear on the toes and fingers, especially in younger patients.
Some patients also report the loss of smell and taste. The majority of patients report mild symptoms only. However, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals are more likely to develop more severe symptoms or clinical signs. With these primary pieces of information in mind, if you have a sore throat for a month, it’s not likely that it’s related to COVID-19.
Is a sore throat a sign of COVID-19?
While a sore throat is one of the signs of COVID-19, it is not the most immediate clinical signs of the disease. It may appear alongside other symptoms after a patient positive for COVID-19 exhibits fever and coughing.
About 80% of people who have been infected with the disease were able to recover from COVID-19 without requiring lengthy hospitalization or any kind of admission at all. However, an average of one in five patients develops some moderate or severe clinical signs of the COVID-19, and thus, these patients require some measure of professional medical care.
The people who are at most at risk from facing catastrophic medical problems after contracting COVID-19 are those with underlying or existing medical conditions such as hypertension or high blood pressure, individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular diseases, patients with type 2 diabetes or type 1 diabetes, and immunocompromised patients such as those with cancer. However, keep in mind that anyone can catch COVID-19 with sufficient exposure, and you can become seriously sick after contracting the virus. So it is not true that it is a good idea to expose yourself to the risk of getting the disease by not following global health guidelines for the pandemic.
Does COVID exist with sore throat only?
Some people may exhibit only mild symptoms of the disease, so if you feel that you have been exposed, you must get yourself checked immediately. There are two ways to check if you have been exposed. Diagnostic testing in a hospital can determine if you have an active or current infection, while a serological test can determine if you have had the disease in the past. These are two different exams, and they have different functions.
It has been established that people from all age ranges to experience the two most common symptoms of COVID-19 – mainly, cough and fever. Patients also experience shortness of breath, and there can also be some pressure or even chest pain in some individual cases. There are also instances when a patient loses the ability to speak or verbalize. These severe cases must be looked at by qualified healthcare professionals the moment the clinical signs arise.
To put things in their proper context, 99% of patients experience fever, or an abnormal rise in body temperature, followed by fatigue, a feeling of tiredness and sometimes exhaustion, coupled with aches and pains around the body (70%). More than half of 59% of COVID-19 patients develop a dry cough, and 40% of them naturally lose their appetite because of the fever and dry cough.
35% specifically say that they have body aches, and 31% develop a more alarming symptom, shortness of breath.
Production of mucus or phlegm has also been observed in about 27% of all patients. As you can see, the significant symptoms of COVID-19 are enough to cause pain in anyone’s throat, so it is essential to get yourself checked when you feel that you may have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19.
While the elderly are at most risk because they can develop severe and irreversible symptoms when they get infected with COVID-19, it doesn’t mean that people younger than 65 can just expose themselves to it the pathogen. Doctors still warn of the risk of developing symptoms that are severe enough to land you in a hospital. The risk of pneumonia is still there, and many COVID-19 patients have died because of pneumonia. 20% of patients that have contracted the virus are aged twenty to forty-four.
What else do you have to know about COVID-19?
An alarming trend has been identified recently: some COVID-19 patients develop strokes. The thread between this condition and the virus is still being investigated, but you must know what to do in case someone might be going through a stroke. The first step is to observe the face of the patient. Is the person’s face drooping, or is there inexplicable numbness present? Can the person smile? People who have strokes are unable to smile properly. The smile becomes abnormal and lopsided. Next, check the person’s arms. Is there a weakness or numbness there, too?
Many stroke patients show signs of weakness in their arms, so if the person has had a stroke or has a stroke in evolution, one arm is sagging more than the other. Then there is the person’s speech. People who experience are often unable to speak clearly. This is because strokes can paralyze the tongue partially, and enunciating words requires perfect control of the language. And finally, we have to emphasize here that if you think someone is undergoing a stroke, you need to call emergency services ASAP.
