COVID-19 Symptoms Commonly Appear in This Order, Says a New Study

COVID-19 symptoms often appear in patients in a particular order, as per the new study.

According to the researchers at the University of Southern California, COVID-19 symptoms manifest in an order. The team tried to discern the most common order of the virus' symptoms presented themselves, according to a scientific paper 'Modeling the Onset of COVID-19 Symptoms', published in the  Frontiers in Public Health journal.

The research aims to enable healthcare professionals to quickly distinguish cases of COVID-19 from other cases with similar symptoms like allergies and flu.

What is the particular order of COVID-19 symptoms?

The research team determined using the World Health Organization data from 55,000 patients in China that fever is most commonly the coronavirus's first symptom. A cough follows the flu, then aches and pain of the muscles, throat, and head. After that, vomiting and/or nausea. The last symptom to appear is diarrhea. 

According to KYR News, a fever is another way for the body to fight off disease. However, it's the first sign of having the coronavirus. MedicineNet reported that although fever is technically any body temperature above normal of 98.6 F, usually, a person is not considered to have a significant fever until the body temperature becomes above 100.4 F. 

Meanwhile, cough is another obvious sign of having COVID-19. But what does a cough with COVID-19 feel and sound like? According to the Sciencealert report, coughing with COVID-19 is dry and persistent, knowing that the virus irritates lung tissue. This symptom is accompanied by shortness of breath and muscle pain. 

The lung tissue is filled with fluid, and a patient may feel even shorter of breath as the disease progresses, and as the body struggles to get enough oxygen. On the other hand, muscle pain is often caused by muscle inflammation known as myositis, as per Health. Amin Barzin, DO, MS, incident commander for the Respiratory Diagnostic Center at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, said, "In general, COVID-19, like other viruses, can cause inflammation of the muscle tissue."

The study of the researchers at the University of Southern California reads, "Our model predicts that influenza initiates with cough, whereas COVID-19, like other coronavirus-related diseases, initiates with fever."

It also explained that, however, COVID-19 differs from MERS and SARS in the order of gastrointestinal symptoms. Their study results support the notion that COVID-19 fever is used to check for entry into facilities as establishments begin to reopen after the 2020 Spring outbreak. 

The symptoms order is not the same for everyone

Other experts pointed out that this order of symptoms would not be the same for every patient. These findings may be useful to help healthcare workers distinguish new COVID-19 cases. Critic flagged another potential flaw of the study as the issue of recall bias; patients struggling to remember which of their symptoms they experienced first, accurately. 

"It's not going to be universal. We know, for starters, that several people don't have a fever," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine. The study could provide insights into which COVID-19 symptoms present themselves in patients. However, the scientific community's consensus is leaning towards the idea that equally close attention should be given to other symptoms like loss of taste or smell, fatigue, and shortness of breath. 

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