Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jun 18, 2024 4:59:45 GMT
Covid Ireland: Symptoms of new FLiRT variant 'like a cold on steroids' as cases skyrocket - Published June 17, 2024
A family doctor has issued an update on symptoms of the new Covid FLiRT variant that her patients are reporting.
Earlier this month, Ireland's health officials sounded the alarm after reporting a significant surge in confirmed Covid cases and hospitalisations. The experts warned that Covid is on the rise again in Ireland, and other European countries are seeing similar trends.
On June 6, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) stated that the number of known infections had risen by almost 20% in a week. It said 306 cases were reported in Week 21 (May 19 to May 25), marking a 19.1% increase from the previous week’s 257 cases.
Worryingly, 154 hospitalised cases were reported during the same time period, representing a 40% increase from the 110 cases reported the previous week. It added that provisional data for the following week indicated that this upward trend is continuing. These are the most up-to-date figures that have been issued by the HPSC.
It comes as cases of the new FLiRT variant appear to be rising rapidly in the country. FLiRT is the term being used to describe a grouping of different variants, which have only recently been detected in Ireland. They are all descendants of the JN.1 variant, which has been dominant here for much of this year.
In America, the FLiRT strains now account for more than half of all known infections, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One family doctor in the US has issued an update on the symptoms she is seeing right now with this particular strain. In a viral TikTok video, Dr Jessica Kiss on her account @askdrmom said: “Are you flirting with Covid? As a doctor I’m going to break down the current symptoms. No you did not teleport back to 2020, this is what’s happening right now.
“So Covid FLiRT variant is a very distant descendant of Omicron, but with some key mutations it means it’s evading our immune system a little bit better so people are getting sick again. I’m not trying to cause alarm in people, I’m just trying to make you aware. Let’s talk about the symptoms we’re seeing right now with this particular variant.
“Large and away, patients that I have talked to who have Covid right now have complained of really bad fatigue and sinus-type symptoms along with sore throat. So basically your cold symptoms, just a little bit more severe than their typical cold. There are very few people who are telling me that they have loss of taste or smell, although that is still something you can get with this, and if you get that, then I would assume that you have Covid at that point.”
In a follow-up video, the mum-of-four added: “So I talked about how cold-like symptoms, but kind of like on steroids, are the predominant thing I’m seeing right now, and that does include cough. Cough is definitely a part of in terms of like your regular cold anyway, but his cough seems to linger.
“The thing I’m not seeing as much of right now where I am is fever. There is fever associated, but people I’ve spoken to so far have not really had a fever. And that doesn’t mean if you have a fever, it’s not Covid, it just means you may not develop a fever with this strain of Covid for a few different reasons. One of which is you’ve been exposed to Covid several times. A lot of you have either had the vaccination or actually had infection, so your body’s not going to respond quite as strongly hopefully.”
The HSE lists fatigue, a high temperature/having chills and a dry cough as the top three Covid symptoms to look out for. Less common symptoms of Covid, according to the HSE, include loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, runny or blocked nose, conjunctivitis, sore throat, headache, muscle or joint pain, different types of skin rash, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea and chills or dizziness.
If you have any of these symptoms, the HSE advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone. If you test positive for Covid, the current advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days from the date you first had symptoms.
The HPSC has also advised anyone with symptoms of Covid, even mild ones, to stay at home until 48 hours after they are mostly or fully gone. It also advises that anyone with symptoms avoids contact with other people, particularly those at higher risk from Covid.
A family doctor has issued an update on symptoms of the new Covid FLiRT variant that her patients are reporting.
Earlier this month, Ireland's health officials sounded the alarm after reporting a significant surge in confirmed Covid cases and hospitalisations. The experts warned that Covid is on the rise again in Ireland, and other European countries are seeing similar trends.
On June 6, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) stated that the number of known infections had risen by almost 20% in a week. It said 306 cases were reported in Week 21 (May 19 to May 25), marking a 19.1% increase from the previous week’s 257 cases.
Worryingly, 154 hospitalised cases were reported during the same time period, representing a 40% increase from the 110 cases reported the previous week. It added that provisional data for the following week indicated that this upward trend is continuing. These are the most up-to-date figures that have been issued by the HPSC.
It comes as cases of the new FLiRT variant appear to be rising rapidly in the country. FLiRT is the term being used to describe a grouping of different variants, which have only recently been detected in Ireland. They are all descendants of the JN.1 variant, which has been dominant here for much of this year.
In America, the FLiRT strains now account for more than half of all known infections, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One family doctor in the US has issued an update on the symptoms she is seeing right now with this particular strain. In a viral TikTok video, Dr Jessica Kiss on her account @askdrmom said: “Are you flirting with Covid? As a doctor I’m going to break down the current symptoms. No you did not teleport back to 2020, this is what’s happening right now.
“So Covid FLiRT variant is a very distant descendant of Omicron, but with some key mutations it means it’s evading our immune system a little bit better so people are getting sick again. I’m not trying to cause alarm in people, I’m just trying to make you aware. Let’s talk about the symptoms we’re seeing right now with this particular variant.
“Large and away, patients that I have talked to who have Covid right now have complained of really bad fatigue and sinus-type symptoms along with sore throat. So basically your cold symptoms, just a little bit more severe than their typical cold. There are very few people who are telling me that they have loss of taste or smell, although that is still something you can get with this, and if you get that, then I would assume that you have Covid at that point.”
In a follow-up video, the mum-of-four added: “So I talked about how cold-like symptoms, but kind of like on steroids, are the predominant thing I’m seeing right now, and that does include cough. Cough is definitely a part of in terms of like your regular cold anyway, but his cough seems to linger.
“The thing I’m not seeing as much of right now where I am is fever. There is fever associated, but people I’ve spoken to so far have not really had a fever. And that doesn’t mean if you have a fever, it’s not Covid, it just means you may not develop a fever with this strain of Covid for a few different reasons. One of which is you’ve been exposed to Covid several times. A lot of you have either had the vaccination or actually had infection, so your body’s not going to respond quite as strongly hopefully.”
The HSE lists fatigue, a high temperature/having chills and a dry cough as the top three Covid symptoms to look out for. Less common symptoms of Covid, according to the HSE, include loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, runny or blocked nose, conjunctivitis, sore throat, headache, muscle or joint pain, different types of skin rash, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea and chills or dizziness.
If you have any of these symptoms, the HSE advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 48 hours after your symptoms are mostly or fully gone. If you test positive for Covid, the current advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days from the date you first had symptoms.
The HPSC has also advised anyone with symptoms of Covid, even mild ones, to stay at home until 48 hours after they are mostly or fully gone. It also advises that anyone with symptoms avoids contact with other people, particularly those at higher risk from Covid.