As more and more people are getting infected with the Omicron variant, doctors have been noticing a difference in the symptoms presented by the new strainand that of the Delta variant. Most recently, a general practitioner in South Africa revealed that patients were experiencing a rather strange reaction that was presenting itself at night.
Discover our latest podcast
Never-seen-before symptom
While speaking at a briefing conducted by the country’s Department of Health, GP Unben Pillay confirmed that the Omicron infection was less severe when compared to previous dominant variants. He also listed out a number of symptoms that had been recorded and included an unexpected symptom on the list—night sweats. He said on Monday:
We've seen a sharp increase in cases for the past 10 days. So far they have mostly been very mild cases, with patients having flu-like symptoms: dry coughs, fever, night sweats, a lot of body pains.
What are night sweats?
As defined by Mayo Clinic,night sweats are when you have ‘repeated episodes of extreme perspiration’ throughout the night. As a result, you may wake up noticing that your clothes and bed linen are soaked in sweat.
While night sweats can be triggered by simple factors such as hot temperatures or sleeping under too many blankets—they can also be caused by conditions such as fever, cough, and diarrhoea.
The latest condition added to the list is now infection by the coronavirus, more particularly the Omicron variant.
Most common symptoms
With the Omicron variant driving the latest wave of COVID infections, experts have observed other symptoms that could be a possible indicator as well. These include:
- Scratchy throat
- A runny nose
- Sneezing
- Developing rashes (mostly for children)
- Headaches
- Body pain
