Atypical symptom of BA infection. 5. “The first thought was meningitis”

While Omikron BA.5 is more infectious, it is more likely to result in a less severe course of COVID-19. Symptoms may resemble the common cold, but not all of them may mean just a sore throat or a stuffy nose. A doctor from Great Britain found out about it, who, together with her nine-year-old son, experienced unusual symptoms of the disease. “My first thought was meningitis,” she wrote on social media. What exactly happened to them?

1. A sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose are the three most common symptoms of the BA.5 mutation
2. The symptoms experienced by Dr. Claire Taylor, a family doctor and neuroscientist, and her son were completely different. «No symptoms of a cold»
3. Instead, there was pain and stiffness in the neck, hand numbness, photophobia and vision problems
4. “The first thought was meningitis …” says Dr. Taylor
5. More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

The most common symptoms of infection with the BA mutation.5

The observations of doctors so far show that many symptoms of the Omicron BA.5 mutation are similar to those observed in the previous variants. Recently, the British Health Service (NHS) published a list of the 20 most common symptoms associated with infection with this sub-variant.

A sore throat, headache, and stuffy nose are the three most common. The next places were, among others, cough without phlegm, runny nose, cough with phlegm, hoarseness, sneezing, fatigue, muscle pain. According to doctors, children usually have more gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea) compared to adults.

The symptoms of COVID-19 experienced by Dr. Claire Taylor, a GP and neuroscientist from the UK, and her nine-year-old son were completely different. «Covid is a vascular disease. We need to stop thinking of it as a disease above all of the lungs »wrote Dr. Taylor on Twitter, sharing her story publicly.

No symptoms of a cold, but a sign of meningitis

Three months earlier, Claire Taylor and her son had passed COVID-19. Re-infection came unexpectedly quickly, however. “Even I was surprised” – admits the medical doctor. But there were more “surprises”. «On the first day my son complained of a painful stiff neck. I took his temperature, he was 38,8 degrees C. The first thought was meningitis… »- he says.

The first symptom of Claire Taylor was muscle pain. It felt as if it had been “hit by a bus”. After a few days, she developed neck pain and stiffness. The test was also weakly positive. «In fact, I couldn’t move my neck at all. Body temperature rose and I felt terrible overall. However, there were no symptoms of a cold »- he recalls.

One week after the first symptoms, Dr. Taylor’s son began to complain that his feet were numb and he was very lethargic. Three days later, the doctor felt tingling and numbness in her left hand. “I still couldn’t move my neck,” she says. Then there was vision problems in the left eye, photophobia.

“The doctor was compassionate and perplexed”

«The next day I called my GP who was very compassionate and embarrassed about the whole thing. He sent an e-mail to a neurologist to make sure I needed an MRI of the brain and spine (…) He gave me something for neuralgia »describes Dr. Taylor. An examination by an ophthalmologist did not reveal any vision problems.

On the 14th day of illness, the numbness and tingling disappeared. “I could move my neck, but the left side of my arm was still sore.” The son’s symptoms continued for a similar amount of time. “With us, it was not an attack on the respiratory system, it was basically viral meningitis (fever, pain and stiffness in the neck, difficulty bearing bright light)” – describes the doctor.

“Not everyone does, COVID-19 is” just a cold. ” It’s the nasty type that increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots for up to 12 months after infection, »wrote Claire Taylor. It is worth noting that in his practice he is particularly interested in long-term complications after suffering from SARS-CoV-2 infection, including in particular cardiovascular effects.

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time Joanna Kozłowska, author of the book High Sensitivity. A Guide for Those Who Feel Too Much »says that high sensitivity is not a disease or dysfunction – it’s just a set of characteristics that affect the way you perceive and perceive the world. What are the genetics of WWO? What are the perks of being highly sensitive? How to act with your high sensitivity? You will find out by listening to the latest episode of our podcast.