Research can help doctors predict who is most at risk, scientists say (representational)
London:
Scientists have claimed that there are six distinct “types” of COVID-19, each distinguished by a particular group of symptoms in patients, the results, if validated, can help doctors better diagnose and monitor those infected with the new coronavirus.
The not yet peer-reviewed study, published on the medRxiv preprint platform, used a machine learning algorithm to analyze data from a subset of around 1600 users in the UK and the States. United with confirmed cases of COVID-19, who had regularly registered their symptoms using the application in March and April.
He analyzed whether particular symptoms appeared together, and how it was related to the progression of the disease.
According to the scientists, led by those at King’s College London in the United Kingdom, the results have major implications for the clinical management of COVID-19 patients.
“These results have important implications for the care and surveillance of those most vulnerable to serious COVID-19,” said Claire Steves, co-author of the study at King’s College London.
They said research can also help doctors predict who is most at risk and who will likely need hospital care during a second wave of coronavirus infections.
The study noted that patients’ symptoms can fall into one of six categories: “flu-like” without fever, “flu-like” with fever, gastrointestinal, severe level 1 with fatigue, severe level 2 with confusion and severe level three accompanied by abdominal and respiratory pain.
In the first category of patients who reported flu-like symptoms without fever, the scientists said that the manifestations included loss of smell, muscle pain, cough, sore throat, chest pain, but not fever.
According to their analysis, those in the second category had headaches, loss of smell, cough, sore throat, hoarseness, fever and loss of appetite, and those in the gastro-symptom group bowel movements had a combination of headache, loss of smell, loss of appetite, diarrhea, sore throat, chest pain, but no cough.
In the category “ level one severe with fatigue ”, the scientists said that patients reported loss of smell, cough, headache, fever, hoarseness, chest pain and fatigue , and those with level two of severity expressed these same symptoms with the addition of loss of appetite, sore throat, confusion and muscle pain.
In the most severe category, the study noted that patients suffered from headache, loss of smell, appetite, cough, fever, hoarseness, sore throat, chest pain, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, shortness of breath, diarrhea and abdominal pain. .
According to research, everyone reporting symptoms has experienced headache and odor loss, with different combinations of additional symptoms at different times.
He said that some of the manifestations, such as confusion, abdominal pain and shortness of breath, are not widely known as COVID-19 symptoms, but are still the hallmark of the more serious forms of the disease.
Scientists also analyzed whether people with clusters of specific symptoms were more likely to need respiratory support in the form of ventilation or additional oxygen.
According to the study, almost half of the patients in group 6 ended up in hospital, compared to only 16% of those in group 1.
People with symptoms of clusters four, five or six tended to be older and more frail, and were more likely to be overweight, said the scientists, adding that these patients had preexisting conditions such as diabetes or lung disease than those of other types.
