The madness of King George III of England is well known — but it wasn't until 2005 that researchers discovered his symptoms of a rare inherited metabolic disorder were aggravated by arsenic in a medication he was taking.
Knowing what symptoms are associated with a disease is essential. They help you decide if you should see a doctor — a they will help the doctor make an accurate diagnosis.
That's just as true for COVID-19 as for any other disease.
Most people think fever, loss of taste, and coughing or breathing issues are the warning signs that should send them for a COVID-19 test. But a new study out of England found that 31% of people with COVID-19 don't have those three symptoms early on, when they're most infectious.
The researchers want everyone to know that fatigue, sore throat, headache, and diarrhea are also symptoms.
Writing in the Journal of Infection, they say that if people were tested for COVID-19 when they had any of those symptoms, those tests could catch 96% of symptomatic cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Federal Emergency Management Agency's advice is similar. They say people with a cough or shortness of breath or difficulty breathing should be tested. Ditto if a person has at least two of the following symptoms:
• Fever
• Chills
• Repeated shaking with chills
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Loss of taste or smell
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea