Branch Covidian Advent Calendar, 5 Dec. 2023

'This is What a Corona Infection Currently Feels Like'

Courtesy of tabloid Heute, posted on 4 Dec. 2023, but perfectly apt for today’s Krampus day (those in the know: you know, for those who don’t, click here).

Translation and emphases mine, as are the bottom lines.

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This is Chat a Corona Infection Currently Feels Like

The corona curve continues to rise steeply. The driving force are currently the XBB lines of the Omicron variant. Those affected report stuffy nose and sinuses, headaches, fever and aching limbs are currently among the most common coronavirus symptoms.

38,996 people insured with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) were on sick leave in the last week of November due to a coronavirus infection. That's over 10,000 more than at the same time in 2022—when there were 21,767 sick notes due to SARS-CoV-2. Austrian wastewater monitoring also shows that the Coronavirus burden is rising. The Coronavirus load is currently higher than ever before.

The driving force behind this are the XBB variants, which, due to their mutations and thanks to vaccination, now only cause mild cases for the most part. The duration of the disease: usually 4 days to a week.

Symptoms of the Common Cold

‘There is no convincing data that any one variant causes a different course than the others. The severity of the infection depends on how well immunologically prepared you are for the virus. There were and always will be cold symptoms and they manifest themselves a little differently in each person. One person's upper respiratory tract is affected, another's lower’, explains molecular biologist Ulrich Elling in an interview with Heute.

Aching limbs, fever, headaches, and a blocked nose. ‘It feels like your whole head is blocked, it goes all the way down to your ears and neck’, says Hans S., describing the course of his recent Covid infection. Symptoms that Katharina F. also described to Heute. Both stayed in bed for a few days, then the infection was over just as quickly as it had come.

Wide Range of Symptoms

The expert can only explain why some people still have to struggle with an infection for longer by saying that the range of symptoms is still relatively wide: ‘Some people have it and don't realise it, others are completely thrown off course.’ What's more, as with any other virus, you can still get a secondary infection afterwards.

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Bottom Lines

Thank heaven for ‘the experts™’ and their (vain)glorious explanations.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I also suffered from what I consider a ‘turbo-cold’ on the weekend, and it took a full 24 hours to resolve. And a couple of Aspirin.

Do I know what ‘it’ was? Nope, and, lest you ask, I also don’t care.

I’d also add: why does Mr. Elling still get asked silly questions? (Because he will provide even more stupid answers.)