Considering its rapid spread across the globe, it may seem hard to believe that it’s only been about five weeks since the highly contagious COVID-19 Omicron variant was reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa.
That happened on Wednesday, Nov. 24 after the first sample of the strain formally known as B.1.1.529 came on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Since Omicron’s emergence, a series of studies as well as anecdotal evidence from those infected, have provided a set of symptoms, with a cough, runny nose, sore throat, and fatigue among the most common, with others, including loss of taste and smell, muscle aches and headache, also emerging.
Since COVID itself was first identified in late 2019, its initial list of symptoms has swelled as well as the virus has just started its fourth calendar year on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022.
Now, a new report has identified two unusual signs of COVID infection that have not previously been identified.
According to the report in Daily Mirror, those other signs are pink eye and hair loss.
The presence of pink eye may be due to the way COVID enters the body, the report said, such as through receptors found “in different parts of the eye, including your retina and epithelial cells which line the white of your eye and eyelid.”
Hair loss could be related to the No. 1 telltale symptom of the original COVID-19 outbreak: fever and chills.
“It’s common that those who experience a fever may deal with hair shedding known as telogen effluvium,” the Daily Mirror report said.
Those who have been infected with COVID-19 have reported a wide range of symptoms – ranging from mild ones to severe illness.
Symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms, said the CDC, which currently lists these 11 symptoms for COVID-19, noting that other symptoms are possible:
- Fever or chills,
- Cough,
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing,
- Fatigue,
- Muscle or body aches,
- Headache,
- New loss of taste or smell.
- Sore throat,
- Congestion or runny nose.
- Nausea or vomiting,
- Diarrhea.
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