Symptom clusters<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Most people can name some key Covid-19 symptoms, thanks to media reports or – unfortunately – personal experience.<\/p>\n The most well-known symptoms include:<\/p>\n As more has been learned about the illness, the list of symptoms has grown. Loss of sense of taste and smell (ageusia and anosmia, respectively) was detected anecdotally before being accepted by medical bodies around the world.<\/p>\n The King\u2019s College team recently scrutinised data from around 1,600 people with confirmed Covid-19 infections in the UK and US.<\/p>\n Each had logged symptoms using an app during March and April. A second dataset of around 1,000 app users from the UK, US and Sweden who had logged their symptoms during May was also examined.<\/p>\n The researchers say they have been able to group symptoms into six divisions, which they say could indicate how unwell a patient could become.<\/p>\n Their six suggested clusters are:<\/p>\n Severity indicators<\/strong><\/p>\n The six categories represent a spectrum of breathing difficulties. Understanding this range could help with clinical management and matching patients with the right care effectively and efficiently.<\/p>\n Analysing patient-provided information on symptoms and their outcomes, the research team says that while 16% of Group 1 patients were admitted to hospital, almost half of those in Group 6 were.<\/p>\n They also found that patients in 4, 5 and 6 tended to be older, and were more likely to have pre-existing conditions ranging from diabetes to obesity.<\/p>\n The specific combination of symptoms reported by a patient was found to be a potential indicator of whether they would become severely ill.<\/p>\n While more research must be done, the work underscores the importance of institutions around the world contributing to the wider pool of global Covid-19 knowledge.<\/p>\n This article was first published by the World Economic Forum. You can find the original here<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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