Update on Symptoms and Findings in COVID-19

Update on Symptoms and Findings in COVID-19

By Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD, CEDS-S, FAED  

Symptoms That May Indicate COVID-19

Updated from the medical literature[i] and CDC[ii], we now have a more extensive list of common symptoms associated with COVID-19. An affected individual may have only a few of these:

·      Fever (with or without symptoms of shaking/chills)

·      Cough

·      Muscle aches

·      Fatigue

·      Sore throat

·      Shortness of breath

·      Loss of taste and/or smell

·      Headache

·      Dizziness

·      Diarrhea

·      Nausea and vomiting

·      Red or blue painful lumps on toes or hands (children or adults)

Laboratory Findings if COVID-19 Testing Not Available

These are not specific for COVID-19 and can be abnormal for many reasons, but people with the above symptoms from COVID-19 may also have some of the laboratory findings below, with the prevalence of this finding found in a study:

·      Low count of a type of white blood cells called the lymphocytes, called lymphocytopenia (65%)

·      Elevated C-reactive protein, or CRP (44%)

·      Elevated lactast dehydrogenase, or LDH (29%)

·      Low count overall of white blood cells, called leukopenia (29%)

References

[i] Li LQ, Huang T, Wang YQ, et al. COVID-19 patients' clinical characteristics, discharge rate, and fatality rate of meta-analysis [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 12]. J Med Virol. 2020;10.1002/jmv.25757. doi:10.1002/jmv.25757

[ii] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html