In March 2020, WHO declared a pandemic of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19, provoked by a strain of SARS-CoV-2. The disease is characterized by a variety of clinical manifestations. Symptoms in each individual case are due to different etiological factors – the patient’s age, existing chronic pathologies. In some cases, nonspecific signs appear that make it difficult to make a correct diagnosis.
The very first symptoms of coronavirus
Initial manifestations of COVID-19 infection appear 2-14 days after infection. According to medical observations, most patients report the first symptoms for 4-5 days after suspected infection [1]. The period between infection and the appearance of the first symptoms is called incubation. With coronavirus, if the infection was the result of close interaction with a sick person, the incubation period can be up to 3 days.
Typical symptoms of coronavirus infection are:
high temperature body – above 37,8 ° C.
Persistent cough, the attacks of which haunt the patient for an hour. There may be several such attacks during the day. If the patient has previously noted a chronic cough, then with coronavirus it becomes more severe.
Loss of taste and/or smell. The patient notices a change in the perception of smells and taste of food or their complete absence.
Most patients with COVID-19 report at least one of these signs of infection.
[Video] Physician Zhanna Ivanovna Lobanova on the early signs of COVID-19: