Long COVID—or post-COVID conditions—is a wide range of new, returning or ongoing health problems people may experience more than four weeks after being first infected with SARS-CoV-2.
Initial presentation — Among patients with symptomatic COVID-19, cough, myalgias, and headache are the most commonly reported symptoms. Other features, including diarrhea, sore throat, and smell or taste abnormalities, are also well described (table 3).
Early research suggested that it could take 2 weeks for your body to get over a mild illness, or up to 6 weeks for severe or critical cases. Newer data show that recovery varies for different people, depending on things like your age and overall health.
Skin changes. Sometimes called COVID toes, this symptom typically lasts about 12 days. COVID-19 also has been reported to cause small, itchy blisters, more commonly appearing before other symptoms and lasting about 10 days. Others might develop hives or a rash with flat and raised lesions.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.
People infected with BA.4 and BA.5 may develop a cough, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headaches and muscle pains.
Some of the things you can do to speed your healing are similar to how you might take care of the flu or a bad cold. Eat healthy foods. If you feel like eating, fuel your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to get better. Limit sugary or highly processed foods like cookies and sodas.
Mayo Clinic researchers reported today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases that less than 1% of patients at high risk for experiencing severe COVID-19 who were treated with Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) experienced a second bout of COVID-19.
COVID-19 can cause symptoms that are mild at first, but then become more intense over five to seven days, with worsening cough and shortness of breath.
Dr. Choi says it’s actually quite common for people to get rashes when they’re battling this type of infection, especially viral respiratory ones.“It’s not uncommon for someone to have a viral infection and have a rash or blotchy areas on their body. This can happen with other viral respiratory infections like measles. And sometimes, antibiotics might cause skin rashes,” says Dr. Choi. But at this time, there is no specific rash pattern that’s associated with COVID-19.
According to the University of California Davis Health, the reported symptoms of BA.5 are similar to previous COVID variants: fever, runny nose, coughing, sore throat, headaches, muscle pain and fatigue.
Experts said that, in general, these subvariants do not have markedly divergent symptoms from earlier versions of Omicron. People infected with BA.4 and BA.5 may develop a cough, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headaches and muscle pains.
Erythema pernio, known as chilblains, have been frequently reported in younger individuals with mild COVID-19 to the extent that they have earned the moniker “COVID toes.” However, the reason behind their development is not yet apparent.
A pre-symptomatic case of COVID-19 is an individual infected with SARS-CoV-2 who has not exhibited symptoms at the time of testing, but who later exhibits symptoms during the course of the infection.
If you have milder symptoms like a fever, shortness of breath, or coughing: Stay home unless you need medical care. If you do need to go in, call your doctor or hospital first for guidance. Tell your doctor about your illness.
If you have a fever, cough or other symptoms, you might have COVID-19.