How COVID-19 symptoms differ between the unvaccinated and those with 2 and 3 doses

Runny nose, headache, sneezing, sore throat, and persistent cough. These are the five most common symptoms among people who have had covid-19 after receiving two or more doses of the vaccine.

In individuals who have not been immunized, the most common complaints of the disease are, in descending order, headache, sore throat, runny nose, fever, and persistent cough.

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These discoveries come after more than two years of monitoring in the United Kingdom with an application created by the technology company Zoe.

The data is analyzed together with researchers from King’s College London and has the support of the British public health service NHS.

The only thing that the more than 4.7 million users who are registered on the digital platform have to do is report the symptoms they feel after obtaining a positive result for covid.

With this, the experts analyze the information and assemble a kind of ranking of the most common symptoms, which have changed considerably throughout the pandemic.

The work (which, until March 2022, received funds from the British government) was key to quickly identifying some of the least expected difficulties of covid, such as the lack of smell and taste.

A slight but relevant change

Among people who have had at least two doses of the vaccine, the most common symptoms of covid have been:

Among those who have not received any dose, the main symptoms are:

The main difference is that in the unvaccinated there was a fever, something that indicates a more serious problem.

They also reported more headaches and sore throats compared to those who received two or more doses of the vaccine.

Vaccination is the main way to avoid covid complications. (GETTY IMAGES).

“There are reasons to explain this change, such as the fact that vaccinated individuals have less severe symptoms,” said those responsible for the experiment in a publication made on the official website of the Zoe app on April 25.

“We also need to consider that a higher number of cases are reported in young individuals, who tend to report less severe and distinct symptoms,” they add.

The authors warn that the ranking of symptoms is based solely on the information that is shared in the application. This, then, does not take into account the circulation of specific variants of the coronavirus.

It’s also worth remembering that symptoms of covid can vary quite a bit. The full list of symptoms of the disease, according to the UK public health service, includes:

What to do if I have symptoms of covid?

According to national and international authorities, if you present one or more of the typical symptoms of a coronavirus infection, the first step is to stay home and restrict interactions with others.

This is even more important if you are in contact with people who are vulnerable to complications from covid, such as the elderly or patients with a compromised immune system.

In this context, another important step is to take a test to confirm or rule out the disease.

In addition to RT-PCR, which is seen as the main and most effective method of diagnosis, it is possible to find rapid antigen tests in pharmacies and laboratories.

If the result is positive, it is important to remain isolated for 5 to 7 days.

If the discomfort improves after that time, it is possible to resume the routine. Now, if they get worse (or more serious symptoms appear, such as difficulty breathing) it is important to go to the emergency room.

The tests that detect covid analyze saliva and throat cells looking for evidence of the presence of the coronavirus. (GETTY IMAGES).

Why do vaccinated people get covid?

Vaccines against covid were developed with one main purpose: to reduce the risk of developing the most severe complications of the disease, which are those related to hospitalizations, intubations, and deaths.

Regardless of the type of technology behind the vaccine, they all have the same initial goal: to safely expose our immune systems to a virus or bacteria (or parts thereof).

From this initial contact, which does not affect our health, the cells that defend us generate a response capable of preparing the body in case a real infectious agent arrives.

This immune process is extremely complicated and involves a large battalion of cells and antibodies. The immune response, therefore, varies considerably depending on the type of virus, its ability to mutate, the way the vaccine was developed, the person’s pre-existing problems…

In the midst of all these processes, it is very difficult to develop an immunizing agent that is capable of preventing the infection itself, that is, blocking the entry of the cause of the disease into our cells.

But here’s a very important point: Even in cases where the vaccine can’t prevent an infection, many times the immune response that the vaccine creates can make symptoms less severe, thus preventing more severe illness and death.

This is what happens with rotavirus and influenza vaccines, for example: whoever has them can become infected, but the risk of developing serious complications with these diseases is greatly reduced.

And it is exactly this same phenomenon that we are seeing with covid-19: although the available immunizations do not stop new waves of cases, they are working well to prevent the worsening of most infections.

Proof of this are the most recent waves, which occurred between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 and were related to the omicron variant: although many countries had broken records in the number of cases, the hospitalization and death rates were significantly higher. low when compared to other moments of the pandemic.

A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in March calculated the extent of this protection. The information reveals that adults who have received three doses of the covid vaccine have a 94% lower risk of requiring hospitalization, mechanical ventilation or death, compared to those who were not immunized.

A third proof of this protective effect comes from the follow-up carried out by Zoe and King’s College, which we mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Some severe symptoms of covid, such as shortness of breath and high fever, were seen much more frequently early in the pandemic, when vaccines were not yet available.

After the waves of cases and, mainly, with the doses that were applied to the vast majority of the population, these types of symptoms began to fall in the ranking, and were gradually replaced at the top by reports of minor annoyances, such as runny nose, headache and sneezing.

From a practical point of view, the virus can even invade the cells of the mouth, nose and throat in people with two or more doses of the vaccine, and cause the typical symptoms of a cold.

Fortunately, in most cases, the immune system is activated and prevents pathogens from reaching the lungs and the rest of the body, places where they would cause shortness of breath, fever, inflammation and other more serious consequences.

Source: Elcomercio