I saw a headline in my research earlier today about the three main COVID-19 symptoms screeners observed when processing COVID-19 patients.
95% of all patients had a cough, breathing problems, and a fever. Almost half had all three. The most common symptom was a cough with 84% having it. 80% had a fever. However, hospitalized patients had shortness of breath 38% of the time compared to 82% of the patients that did not remain in a hospital.
I thought this would have been good information to share with my audience. However, the study covered 164 people in 16 states from January 14th to April 4th. Why is this newsworthy? 164 people is hardly a large study, especially spread over sixteen states.
Nearly four months is reasonable for a study like this one, but I would expect thousands of people to be observed. I would also expect the results to be posted much more quickly than this one.
This study was released in mid-July. The concluding paragraph of the article stated that the CDC hoped that the results of this study would provide guidance on clinical care and testing. I do not follow the logic.
At the end of January, the symptoms reported to the public were fever, cough, sore throat, and headaches. Severe cases had difficulty in breathing.
Over time, more symptoms were reported – remember the announcement about loss of smell and taste? By the middle of May, COVID-19 symptoms announced to the public were fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, runny nose, congestion, and the newly reported loss of smell and taste.
When I see a headline about the three most common symptoms of this disease or another that is impacting the public, I expect more than the dribble I got from a six-month-old study based on 164 people.
Live Longer & Enjoy Life! – Red O’Laughlin – RedOLaughlin.com
