Where is the tide? What symptoms does omicron cause?

Omicron is not a delta. As a rule, we most often become infected in a mild form, but the coronavirus should not be underestimated. This is a different wave than the previous ones, and most likely it will not be a heavy burden for hospitals. However, the individual threat remains. Older people who are battling various diseases or who have a weakened immune system may have a more severe infection. And you have to remember the scale effect. BA4/BA5 is easily transmitted and more contagious than the previous variants - the proportion of more severe cases on the scale of a large number of infections may not be such a small result.

Those who are at risk - experts constantly emphasize - should be vaccinated with a fourth or third dose, as well as basic immunization. “The vaccines we have are still effective protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19, as well as against the micromicron variant,” says Dr. Andrzej Tribusz, MD, epidemiologist.

Don’t get sick!

Vaccinations also protect against long-term COVID. And an omicron infection, even a mild one, regardless of the severity of the disease, can lead to complications, as in the case of the previous options. - There are estimates that complications can affect up to 50 percent. infected - says prof. Joanna Zaikowska, infectious disease specialist. - Diabetes mellitus, arrhythmias, thromboembolic complications appear, - he lists.

And the coronavirus infection itself exacerbates the course of other diseases: asthma or the cardiovascular system. - An asthmatic infected with an omicron will have a much worse disease, he will choke, he will have problems with expectoration. The infection will exacerbate the underlying disease. The same is true for COPD and cardiac problems,” he explains. - Don’t get sick! - emphasizes the specialist.

A team at ECDC, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, is also tracking infections to predict the course of the wave. The conclusions about Poland are similar - the number of infections is growing.

- We are in the phase of the epidemic, whether it will be a week, two or three, it is difficult to say, - says prof. Joanna Zaikowska. - Some countries in Europe are stabilizing and some are on a downward curve. It seems that this wave will not be dramatically high; there may be a large number of infections, but not so high - hospitalizations. He added that this does not paralyze the work of the health service.

How does infection with BA4/BA5 omicrons manifest itself?

- The spectrum of symptoms is quite wide. Diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, as well as gastrointestinal complaints appear. However, mainly the upper respiratory tract makes itself felt, - explains prof. Zaikovsk. - There may be stuffy nose, headache, cough. But it can also be headache, dizziness, sore throat and diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. Someone thinks they got sick with a hamburger, and COVID comes out in research, he describes.

If we already have an infection, let’s get sick, give the body a chance to fight the germ.

What other symptoms should be looked for? - they are mentioned by the British NHS (i.e. the public health system in the UK), Polish specialists have similar observations.

Such symptoms may be caused by omicron

heat

cough

dyspnea

fatigue or exhaustion

Headache

muscle pain

sore throat

stuffy or runny nose

diarrhea

nausea or vomiting

lack of appetite

(loss of taste or smell is less likely with omicron)

End of the epidemic. But not an epidemic. Until the next one? What do we know about COVID-19? Will the coronavirus go away? [ROZMOWA]

Have you received a message from the Ministry of Health? This you can do!

Few people know about this change in vaccinations. Just went into effect!