Six distinct 'types' of COVID-19 identified

[REWahoo]

Thought this was very interesting.

Analysis of data from the COVID Symptom Study app, led by researchers from King’s College London, reveals that there are six distinct ‘types’ of COVID-19, each distinguished by a particular cluster of symptoms.

Moreover, the team found that these types differed in the severity of the disease and the need for respiratory support during hospitalisation.

The findings have major implications for clinical management of COVID-19, and could help doctors predict who is most at risk and likely to need hospital care...

The six clusters are as follows:

1. (‘flu-like’ with no fever): Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.
2. (‘flu-like’ with fever): Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.
3. (gastrointestinal): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.
4. (severe level one, fatigue): Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.
5. (severe level two, confusion): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.
6. (severe level three, abdominal and respiratory): Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea, abdominal pain.

They discovered that only 1.5% of people with cluster 1, 4.4% of people with cluster 2 and 3.3% of people with cluster 3 COVID-19 required breathing support. These figures were 8.6%, 9.9% and 19.8% for clusters 4,5 and 6 respectively. Furthermore, nearly half of the patients in cluster 6 ended up in hospital, compared with just 16% of those in cluster 1.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/six-distinct-types-of-covid-19-identified

 

[braumeister]

Thanks for that -- very interesting indeed.

Based on 1,600 cases, so probably some good validity.

 

[Rianne]

Soar throat in all clusters except #4. When monitoring myself I think of soar throat first. I might have a scratchy throat in the morning but it typically goes away. I wonder if every cluster has the same contagion. I treat almost everyone as though they are contagious. And inner alarms go off when I hear a cough or sneeze.

 

[TechLead]

The worst in a way is case of no symptoms. This makes Covid incredibly clever.

It will never be completely eradicated. Just like flu.

 

[audreyh1]

I think of loss of smell or taste as being an oddball symptom that would definitely get my attention!

 

[Dtail]

I think of loss of smell as being an oddball symptom that would definitely get my attention!

Agree. Usually would only experience this concept with a stuffy nose for days.

 

[audreyh1]

I don’t think I’ve ever had it happen to me, even with a cold.

 

[JoeWras]

DW's niece had #3, and her husband had #2.

Both mid 40's, and both recovered in 2 weeks.

 

[JoeWras]

This discussion has me thinking again about the futility of temperature checks.

I was on a volunteer work crew earlier this week and we had 2x per day temperature checks. I really wondered if they were worth it. I'm more and more thinking they are dangerously giving false security.

 

[audreyh1]

DW's niece had #3, and her husband had #2.

Both mid 40's, and both recovered in 2 weeks.

Well that’s really good news. No lingering effect as far as they know?

I certainly expect fatigue to be a major symptom as I keep hearing about it.

 

[skipro33]

Seems those 'types' are just the body's ability to fight off the virus. Those with a stronger immune system have less symptoms than those with a weaker immune system. Add in underlying health conditions for effect...

 

[eytonxav]

The various clusters of symptoms makes sense, but are they also trying to imply there are 6 mutations or variants of Covid, or is there really one primary strain that can produce these various symptom clusters?

 

[JoeWras]

Well that’s really good news. No lingering effect as far as they know?

I certainly expect fatigue to be a major symptom as I keep hearing about it.

They had fatigue, but they got over it at about 2 weeks. The niece considers herself a near vegan (occasional dairy and fish, so really a pescatarian). She always has GI issues, so it wasn't a surprise it manifested that way. Her husband is an omnivore with no issues.

Key here is both are healthy with none of the risk factors.

Others we know from church (40s, and one child late teens) also recovered within a week or so. No risk factors. Also, our friend's daughter and baby recovered fast. She's 20s, baby under 1yr. She's a running nut with no risk factors.

See a trend? No risk factors, all under 50. All recovered without known lingering issues.

 

[Rianne]

The various clusters of symptoms makes sense, but are they also trying to imply there are 6 mutations or variants of Covid, or is there really one primary strain that can produce these various symptom clusters?

I understand the variations of symptoms a result of the individual response to the same virus. I've not read anything about mutations of Covid. An asymptomatic person has the same virus that can devastate someone else. People react differently to all sorts of illnesses.

 

[audreyh1]

Seems those 'types' are just the body's ability to fight off the virus. Those with a stronger immune system have less symptoms than those with a weaker immune system. Add in underlying health conditions for effect...

Also, the initial exposure dose matters. If you get a small dose you may be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, because your body has a lot more time to mount its defenses before the virus can replicate to a larger viral load.

 

[audreyh1]

The various clusters of symptoms makes sense, but are they also trying to imply there are 6 mutations or variants of Covid, or is there really one primary strain that can produce these various symptom clusters?

No, this is simply classifying different typical responses/illness.

 

[JoeWras]

The various clusters of symptoms makes sense, but are they also trying to imply there are 6 mutations or variants of Covid, or is there really one primary strain that can produce these various symptom clusters?

The linked layman article used the word 'type'. The abstract of the research paper doesn't use that word and just uses "symptom cluster." To me, that clearly is about symptoms and not mutations.

DW's niece clearly got it from her husband who had known exposure to a traveler. (This was March.) Same bug, manifested slightly differently based on their biology.

 

[audreyh1]

They had fatigue, but they got over it at about 2 weeks. The niece considers herself a near vegan (occasional dairy and fish, so really a pescatarian). She always has GI issues, so it wasn't a surprise it manifested that way. Her husband is an omnivore with no issues.

Key here is both are healthy with none of the risk factors.

Others we know from church (40s, and one child late teens) also recovered within a week or so. No risk factors. Also, our friend's daughter and baby recovered fast. She's 20s, baby under 1yr. She's a running nut with no risk factors.

See a trend? No risk factors, all under 50. All recovered without known lingering issues.

But we do know of younger people with no risk factors who experienced the worst of the illnesses and/or had lingering effects, so it’s no guarantee.

And apparently even asymptomatic folks sustain some lung damage, they just don’t know it.

 

[JoeWras]

But we do know of younger people with no risk factors who experienced the worst of the illnesses and/or had lingering effects, so it’s no guarantee.

And apparently even asymptomatic folks sustain some lung damage, they just don’t know it.

Of course. It isn't an all or nothing. Some folks with risk factors sail through. But a higher percentage don't.

Likewise, there is a small percentage of younger without factors who end up in trouble.

The problem is the news is trying to make everything black and white and stoke panic. The fact is there are gradients to the curve, and you want to keep yourself as far to the edge of the good side of the curve as possible. And if your risk factors don't allow that, stay home.

 

[RAE]

Seems those 'types' are just the body's ability to fight off the virus. Those with a stronger immune system have less symptoms than those with a weaker immune system. Add in underlying health conditions for effect...

+1, that would be my guess also. I doubt that there are 6 different strains of the virus.

 

[RAE]

But we do know of younger people with no risk factors who experienced the worst of the illnesses and/or had lingering effects, so it’s no guarantee.

And apparently even asymptomatic folks sustain some lung damage, they just don’t know it.

Some folks actually do have underlying health issues, but may just not know about it. For example, it's pretty well accepted that about 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy, to some degree. These are people that are overweight/obese, possibly pre-diabetic, have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, etc.. My guess is that a fair percentage of these people have never actually been diagnosed with these conditions (for a variety of reasons - not everyone makes regular doctor visits, for one thing), so nothing is documented. Yes, it is probably still true that this virus can cause serious problems for some younger folks that are truly in good health, but my guess is that a lot of these folks are not as healthy as they may think. See link to short article below re. metabolic health.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-does-it-mean-to-be-metabolically-healthy

 

[Ronstar]

Seems those 'types' are just the body's ability to fight off the virus. Those with a stronger immune system have less symptoms than those with a weaker immune system. Add in underlying health conditions for effect...

+1, that would be my guess also. I doubt that there are 6 different strains of the virus.

I read that those with diarrhea could have been infected via water and wastewater systems.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-020-0079-1

So maybe different symptoms are presented depending on how one contracts the virus.

 

[MRG]

Agree. Usually would only experience this concept with a stuffy nose for days.

DW and I both were sick the month of April, right before the addition of lost taste and smell were added as symptoms.

We were trying to say we had a cold but without a stuffy nose and all the goes with it. I knew my smell was compromised but didn't realize how bad it was until everything went back to normal. Did we have Covid-19? I don't know but it changes nothing!

 

[P.S.]

This discussion has me thinking again about the futility of temperature checks.

Yes.
I personally think temp. checks are a cheap, inadequate, “doing-something” excuse that profit-driven businesses engage in. Don’t even bother. At this point, if an outbreak happens at a business, I think temp checks is no longer an adequate defense of sufficient prevention, as plenty of studies suggest otherwise and more effective means.

 

[ivinsfan]

+1, that would be my guess also. I doubt that there are 6 different strains of the virus.

IMO it's more of a disease progression chart rather then 6 strains...interesting that a lot of people in the 6th stage go almost two weeks from feeling sick to hospitalization suggesting it overwhelmed their immune system.