New study of COVID-19, based on data from a symptom tracker app, determined that there are six distinct “types” of the disease involving different clusters of symptoms.
The discovery could potentially open new possibilities for how doctors can better treat individual patients and predict what level of hospital care they would need.
Researchers from King’s College London studied data from approximately 1,600 U.K. and U.S. patients who regularly logged their symptoms in the COVID Symptom Tracker App in March and April.
Typically, doctors will look for key symptoms such as cough, fever and loss of the sense of smell to detect COVID-19. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, says the six different “types” of COVID-19 can vary by severity and come with their own set of symptoms.
“I think it’s very, very interesting,” Dr. Bob Lahita, who is not affiliated with the study, told CBSN anchors Vladimir Duthiers and Anne-Marie Green. “Among the patients I see, those who recovered, many of them present different ways: some people with fever and some without fever, and some with nausea and vomiting, some people with diarrhea, etc.”
The six clusters of symptoms outlined in the study are:
*Flu-like with no fever: Headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.
*Flu-like with fever: Headache, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever, loss of appetite.
*Gastrointestinal: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, no cough.
*Severe level one, fatigue: Headache, loss of smell, cough, fever, hoarseness, chest pain, fatigue.
*Severe level two, confusion: Headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain.
*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.
The first level, “flu-like with no fever,” is associated with headaches, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat and chest pain. Patients at this level have a 1.5% chance of needing breathing support such as oxygen or a ventilator. (CBS NEWS)