Presenter/Author:

LUO Jingyuan

Other Author:

ZHANG Jialing, CHEUNG Chun Hoi, WONG Hoi Ki, TANG Hiu To, BIAN Zhaoxiang

Author Affiliation:

Hong Kong Baptist University

Keywords:

Omicron; COVID-19; Symptoms; Telemedicine

Abstract:

Omicron as the current dominant variant has caused the largest outbreak (the 5th wave) in Hong Kong since January 2022. Between March 14-May 6, 2022, there were 18692 consultation records from the Hong Kong Baptist University Telemedicine Chinese Medicine Centre (HKBU-TCMC) database, and 12,950 self-quarantined but not hospitalized COVID-19 patients who received at least one time of online TCM consultation service from trained Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs) in HKBU-TCMC were included in this study. There were 12,010 (92.7%) who reported at least one COVID-19 symptom and 940 (7.3%) reported no COVID-19 symptoms. In symptomatic patients, a total of 4,718 (40.1%) patients had symptoms within the first week of illness, and 2,011 (17.1%) patients had symptoms over 4 weeks. There are 5 common symptoms (prevalence over 20%) in all periods of illness: cough, sputum, dry throat, itchy throat, and fatigue. Sore throat (43.8%), diarrhea (21.2%), and headache (22.2%) are common only in the first week of illness. The prevalence of all symptoms except fatigue decreased as the number of weeks after COVID-19 diagnosis increased. We have identified variation symptom profiles at different weeks of omicron infection which enormous the understanding of omicron progression which would facilitate accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted treatment of the omicron variant and help health care systems function more efficiently.

Reference:

N/A

Funding Source:

N/A

Conflict of Interests:

The authors report no conflicts of interest related to this study.