People suffering from 'the worst lurgy ever' are being urged not to confuse symptoms with Covid - as they might have caught the virus without realising.
Thousands of people have been struck down by a nasty case of the common cold over the past few weeks, with symptoms including a runny nose, headache and sore throat.
The cold appears to have spread quickly, believed to be fuelled by a dip in immunity after 18 months of lockdown and social distancing.
However, it may be that those currently in the grips of the familiar symptoms are not actually suffering from a cold, but Covid-19, The Mirror reports.
Research from the ZOE Covid App in the UK shows that the top five symptoms for those who have had both coronavirus vaccines but still contract the virus are a headache, a runny nose, sneezing, a sore throat and loss of smell.
Professor Tim Spector, lead scientists on the ZOE Covid study app, warned that confusing Covid for a cold was easy to do, and could help the virus to spread.
He said: "The UK still has more cases than most of Europe and I believe this is for two main reasons; the first is a lack of masks and social distancing and the second is because we’re ignorant of the symptoms.
"We should be looking out for things like sore throat, runny nose and sneezing. The classic three - cough, fever and anosmia are rarer these days, yet the government has done nothing.
"By not updating advice, we’re letting people into care homes, schools, workplaces and large gatherings displaying known signs of Covid.
"Roughly, 1 in 80 people in the UK have Covid. If we don’t wake up to the fact these cold-like symptoms could be Covid, we will continue to keep numbers high, putting unnecessary strain on an exhausted NHS."
Shortness of breath, a fever and a persistent cough - the signs of a case of Covid Brits were first told to look out for last spring - are now the 29th, 12th and 8th most common symptom respectively.
The double jabbed Covid symptoms have much more in common with those of a cold, which the NHS says include a blocked or runny nose, a sore throat, headaches, coughs and a loss of smell.
Similarities between Covid-19 and flu:
- Fever or feeling feverish/chills
- Cough
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Muscle pain or body aches
- Headache
- Some people may have vomiting and diarrhoea, though this is more common in children than adults
Differences between Covid-19 and flu:
- Change in or loss of taste
- Change in or loss of smell
If a person has Covid-19, it could take them longer to develop symptoms than if they had flu.
