How the symptoms of coronavirus change day by day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

For 80% of people, coronavirus infection is safe. But everyone should know when to seek help.

Scientists still do not fully understand what the SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 coronavirus is and how to deal with COVID ‑ 19, the disease it causes. But it is already clear how exactly in most cases the disease develops and how long its symptoms appear.

The life hacker gives a timeline of the average COVID-19 - by days from the moment of infection. Watch out for important signs of illness.

An accurate diagnosis can only be made by a doctor and only on the basis of a test. If you have symptoms of coronavirus, first contact your GP or call the hotline 8 800 20-00-112 and follow the instructions.

Day 1

Infection. The risk of contracting a virus is highest anywhere in a crowd, at a supermarket checkout, in a subway car. Or, for example, in personal communication with a person who recently returned from abroad. SARS ‑ CoV ‑ 2 is transmitted primarily by airborne droplets, and close contact (less than 2 meters away) is the most common route of infection.

It may take 2 to 14 days for the first symptoms to appear. In some cases, the incubation period lasts up to 27 days - the period, presumably, depends on the characteristics of a particular person. However, such a long period is extremely rare.

Most often, COVID-19 makes itself felt about 5 days after infection.

We are based on this figure in further calculations.

Days 3-5

Digestive symptoms. Although the WHO considers them uncharacteristic for coronavirus (after all, the infection mainly affects the respiratory tract), there is evidence that every second patient has stomach problems.

In most cases, patients complain about:

• loss of appetite;
• diarrhea;
• vomiting;
• abdominal pain.

Please note: these symptoms are not yet a sign of illness. The stomach can hurt for a variety of reasons. It's another matter if, against the background of a digestive disorder, signs characteristic of a coronavirus infection appear.

Days 5-10

Key symptoms of coronavirus are emerging. In the vast majority of cases, there are three of them:

1. The temperature rises to about 38–39 ° С.
2. Dry cough.
3. Weakness.

The symptoms are similar to those that appear with the flu. And this is one of the main problems in the diagnosis of COVID-19. There are no characteristic symptoms that would make it possible to immediately distinguish coronavirus infection from ordinary seasonal SARS. This is not to say, "If you have a runny nose, this is definitely not a coronavirus." Or: "If you have a dry cough, but the temperature is not high, this is definitely a common ARVI."

Key symptoms of coronavirus may or may not be accompanied by additional:

• runny nose;
• stuffy nose;
• sore throat;
• moist cough with sputum;
• chills;
• pain in muscles and joints.

In some cases, COVID-19 is easy and almost asymptomatic. And sometimes it manifests itself in non-standard signs. For example, complete or partial loss of smell - anosmia. This is reported by experts from the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology.

Claire Hopkins President, British Rhinological Society, Professor of Rhinology, King's College London

In 30% of patients in South Korea who carry the disease easily, anosmia was the main symptom.

However, with a mild course of COVID-19, the patient gets better about 4-7 days after the onset of symptoms. The man is recovering. According to statistics, such lucky ones are 80% of the total number of cases.

But in 20% of all cases, the process is difficult. And the disease manifests itself as additional symptoms.

Days 10-12

About a week after the first signs of infection, the condition of some patients deteriorates sharply. Breathing problems appear:

• severe shortness of breath, difficulty breathing in;
• painful, tight feeling in the chest;
• extreme weakness, blurred consciousness;
• bluish lips, pallor.

Such symptoms indicate that severe pneumonia is developing. The lungs are damaged and the person experiences oxygen deprivation. Urgent hospitalization is required.

Treatment of such patients may take a week or two and require oxygen therapy (inhalation of air with an increased oxygen content).

Days 12-14

Three quarters of patients who develop viral pneumonia are slowly recovering.

But a quarter (up to 6% of the total number of cases) develop a dangerous complication - acute respiratory distress syndrome. In this case, the immune cells, which must fight the infection inside the lungs, go crazy and begin to attack, including healthy tissues.

The patient's condition deteriorates sharply, he loses the ability to breathe on his own and needs to be connected to a ventilator.

Days 14-19

Artificial lung ventilation is an extreme measure. Which, moreover, does not always help: half of the patients connected to the device still die. In most cases, this occurs on the 14-19th day after infection.

But for some, mechanical ventilation helps. The condition of the sick is improving. True, the damage to the lungs and the disorders caused by them - respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological and others - never go away.

Coronavirus. Number of infected:

243 050 862

in the world

8 131 164

in Russia View map