Scientists have found four additional symptoms of Covid-19.
A study of more than one million people in England has revealed further symptoms of the disease - in addition to the three recognised by the NHS.
The main symptoms of coronavirus include losing your sense of smell and taste, a fever and a new persistent cough.
But now, scientists have suggested four things that could also be signs of the illness. They are:
- chills
- a loss of appetite
- headaches
- muscle aches
The research is based on swab tests and questionnaires collected between June 2020 and January 2021 as part of the Imperial College London-led React study.
It found that there was a variation in symptoms with age.
While chills were linked with testing positive across all ages, headaches were reported in young people aged five to 17 and appetite loss was reported more in 18-54 year olds and those aged 55 and over.
Muscle aches were mostly reported in people aged between 18 and 54.
Infected five to 17 year olds were also less likely to report fever, a persistent cough and appetite loss compared with adults, according to the study.
Around 60 per cent of participants who had coronavirus did not report any symptoms in the week leading up to their test.
People in England are currently encouraged to get a Covid-19 test if they have any of the three classic symptoms.
However, researchers estimate that if everyone who had classic symptoms were tested, it would only pick up around half of all symptomatic infections.
They said that if the additional symptoms were included, this could be improved to three-quarters of symptomatic infections.
Professor Paul Elliott, director of the React programme at Imperial, said: “These new findings suggest many people with Covid-19 won’t be getting tested – and therefore won’t be self-isolating – because their symptoms don’t match those used in current public health guidance to help identify infected people.
“We understand that there is a need for clear testing criteria, and that including lots of symptoms which are commonly found in other illnesses like seasonal flu could risk people self-isolating unnecessarily.
“I hope that our findings on the most informative symptoms mean that the testing programme can take advantage of the most up-to-date evidence, helping to identify more infected people.”
