By Erika Edwards - NBC News
Doctors are beginning to find COVID-19 cases that look more like a very bad cold, especially in areas of the country where the highly delta variant is spreading rapidly.
Although shortness of breath and other lung problems remain one of the most worrisome symptoms of the coronavirus, it appears that airway discomfort, marked by congestion, runny nose and headache, may be increasing.
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"We've seen several people with cold-like symptoms," said Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr., an internist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The possible change in symptoms does not mean that the illness should be dismissed as a simple cold.
Respiratory droplets emitted from coughs and sneezes can infect the most vulnerable people.
And cases that start out mild can get worse and become more serious.
"Coronavirus can present itself in different ways," recalled Dr. Russell Vinik, director of medical operations at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City.
"If you think you have a cold, it's contagious, and whether it's COVID-19 or a cold, you should consider getting tested," he advised.
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Vinik has also seen more people come in with cold-like symptoms.
And previously typical COVID-19 symptoms, such as loss of taste and smell, are no longer reported as often, according to the doctor.
Both Hopkins and Vinik stated that their patients tend not to be vaccinated and are younger than before.
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It's unclear why symptoms of the common cold are increasingly being reported in COVID-19 cases, although some experts suspect it could be due to the delta variant, which now accounts for about 20% of new cases in the US. USA
Arkansas and Utah, where Hopkins and Vinik are based, respectively, have some of the highest rates of delta cases in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In fact, in the UK, where the delta variant is implicated in more than 95% of new cases, researchers say the most common symptoms of coronavirus are now those of a bad cold: headache, sore throat, runny nose and fever.
"What we've been seeing in the last month is a big change in symptoms," said Tim Spector, professor of epidemiology at King's College London.
A child was tested for COVID-19 at the Martin Luther King Jr. medical campus in Los Angeles, California, Thursday, January 7, 2021.AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez
Spector spearheads a project called the ZOE Covid Study, an app in which users report daily symptoms, their vaccination status, and other demographic information.
More than 4 million people in the UK have signed up, as well as some 300,000 people in the US.
"We have a picture of where things are happening in real time. We also learn the most common symptoms at different times of the year and in different places," Spector explained.
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Spector's research finds that the above symptoms, such as shortness of breath, persistent cough and loss of smell, "have made it out of the top five" of the most common COVID-19 symptoms.
The CDC has long included the classic "common cold" symptoms of congestion and a runny nose on its list of possible coronavirus symptoms.
A spokesperson told NBC News, sister network to Noticias Telemundo, that the agency does not have an immediate plan to change the symptom guide.
Still, US doctors are paying attention to what is happening in the UK, which is "two or three months ahead of us," Vinik recalled.
Dr Andy Dunn, a family physician and chief of staff at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, agreed, adding that what is happening now in the UK could predict coronavirus cases in the country by the end of this summer and beyond. fall.
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It is also possible that the change in COVID-19 symptoms has nothing to do with the delta variant.
Now that most older adults have been vaccinated, new cases are shifting toward younger, mostly unvaccinated adults.
Younger people have generally been spared the worst of the coronavirus.
"Now that we've vaccinated all those older people, you eliminate their symptoms," said Alasdair Munro, senior clinical researcher in pediatric infectious diseases at the UK's National Institute for Health Research.
"People who would normally have those milder symptoms now make up a much higher proportion of all who get infected," Munro said.
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Dunn estimates that three-quarters of his coronavirus patients are now under the age of 50.
You are also experiencing an increase in congestion associated with the virus.
Most of Dunn's sickest COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated.
Wyoming is one of the states with the lowest vaccination rates in the country - just over 30% of residents are fully vaccinated.
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Dunn said the combination of the low vaccination rate and the end of masks has led to "huge breeding grounds for more variants to evolve and take over a community that could have ended this with vaccines."
But even those who have been vaccinated are not completely immune to the coronavirus.
Although they are very effective, vaccines do not prevent 100% of infections.
"If you've had a vaccine and you have symptoms, don't rule them out. You could still get COVID-19," said Vinik of the University of Utah Health.
"Don't think you're immune to COVID-19 just because you're vaccinated," he warned.
That means that even among the vaccinated crowd, a stuffy nose, sore throat, mild fever or fatigue can warrant a coronavirus test.
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"Is it just a cold? Or is it coronavirus? We're not doing enough testing to get a good idea of how much COVID-19 is circulating in our communities," recalled Hopkins of the University of Arkansas Medical Center.
Spector from the UK ZOE project had more direct advice.
"If you're not sure it's a cold, I guess it could be coronavirus," he said.
