Shawdesh Desk:

While coronavirus is a virus which attacks the respiratory system, it induces a host of symptoms in patients ranging from flu-like symptoms, immune disorders, muscle pain and aches.

A lot remains to be known as to why and how certain symptoms prop up. However, a small study by Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA has now found that almost all the patients treated for the infection had three common symptoms:

The study

A sample study done by CDC analysed health parameters of 164 people, who were found to be COVID positive between the timeline of January 14 and April 4.

Since by early February, a lot remained to be known about the disease, the patients were asked to report on a wide variety of symptoms and also asked to report on any additional symptoms that were not widely recognized.

What are the common symptoms of COVID-19?

As per the study’s findings, nearly 96%, i.e. almost all patients surveyed said that they experienced one of the three typical symptoms- fever, cough or shortness of breath.

Among these, a whopping 45% said that they experienced all three symptoms together during the course of their illness.

Coughing

Coughing was found to be the most common symptom of a rising COVID like illness. While most mild symptoms of COVID-19 start off like a cold or the flu, one symptom which can cause worry is the presence of dry cough (a non-productive cough which doesn’t involve sputum, and is harsher and makes your voice coarse). 80% of those surveyed recorded the presence of a lasting cough as their primary symptom.

Fever

Fever, which was the second most common symptom prevalent in coronavirus patients is also a typical symptom, most likely, a result of inflammation and can show up 2-14 days after exposure to coronavirus. While fever is often resultant of many infections, if you record a temperature of more than 100 degrees for more than 3 days and have other accompanying symptoms, it can be a cause of concern.

Shortness of breath

Shortness of breath, or feeling restless was the third most common symptom the participants recorded.

Since coronavirus attacks the upper respiratory tract, it targets the immune cells in the nasal tract and often blocks the airways, leading to difficulty of breath. A dip in oxygen levels can also make matters worse and hence, this is one symptom which should never be ignored.