Lisnaskea GP Dr. John Porteous has been researching the ways in which the Delta variant of Covid-19 presents itself, post-vaccination. Here he shares his thoughts and insights on the particularly virulent new coronavirus strain that is causing such concern all around the world.

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Covid-19 has been foremost in all our thinking for well over a year and there is a tsunami of information out there circulating in the media; some accurate and some … not so much.

It is difficult to filter out the important bits in this “infomania”.

In the past week or two, a couple of really useful articles have come to my attention which should help us all to be safer as the struggle against the coronavirus continues.

We are all very focused on the key symptoms of Covid 19 – a new continuous cough, a high fever and a loss of sense of smell or taste.

If we feel unwell with these symptoms, we should be thinking about the possibility of our having Covid, and take the appropriate actions – isolate and get tested with the PCR test through the (NI Direct website) testing centre at the airport.

However, since Covid-19 first hit us, the coronavirus has changed, and the symptoms we are now hearing about with the Delta variant have evolved.

Furthermore, the symptoms can be different depending on whether you have had two, one or no vaccine jabs.

Because the symptoms are now different, people may not now realise they have symptoms of Covid-19, and will not take the appropriate actions.

With the Delta variant, those who are doubly vaccinated are less likely to be seriously ill, but if exposed to the virus they can develop problems with a headache, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat and a loss of sense of smell, and are less likely to have a cough, shortness of breath and fever.

After one vaccine jab, the protection conferred to the recipient is likely to be less robust, and people can develop a slightly different top-five symptoms, namely, headache, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and a persistent cough.

Notably, sneezing and a runny nose were not thought to be associated with Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, but are now more likely.

Of course, sneezing and runny noses are also common in hay fever, which is likely to be appearing in susceptible individuals in the warm summer weather.

With no vaccine jabs, the Delta variant is likely to cause a headache, sore throat, runny nose, fever and a persistent cough as the commonest five symptoms.

The loss of a sense of smell has become less common than it was in 2020, as has a shortness of breath.

The key message to remember is that we need to be watching for the right symptoms to alert us to illness and the need to get a PCR test.

If you want to get help with the symptom tracking of Covid 19 as it changes – and it probably will change further with time – you can download the C-19 covid symptom app (which does not track you), also referred to as the Zoe app.

It is currently reporting on more than 4.5 million people in the UK who report voluntarily. It will also offer up-to-date advice from a reliable source.

There is a wide availability of lateral flow test kits through councils, community testing sites, and workplaces.

When used correctly and repeatedly in people with no symptoms, they will pick up positive cases of Covid-19 before symptoms are evident. This will help us all to limit the spread of the illness.

Another little nugget I came across is that it is important to blow your nose before having a nose swab – if you don’t, the test – whether PCR or lateral flow – will be less accurate, and therefore of much less use.

We need to keep alert, and keep on testing, particularly as society is opening up and restrictions lessening.

And keep those windows open!