Coronavirus by day - the course of the disease until recovery

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

SARS-CoV-2 infection is asymptomatic in almost half of cases. Patients with symptoms - 20%. In such cases, a severe or critical form of pathology develops. How is the coronavirus going by day? The answer is given by doctors who have identified several patterns of the course of the disease.

COVID-19 Symptoms - Typical and Atypical

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an impressive percentage of coronavirus infections are asymptomatic. Cases when symptoms do appear sometimes progress to severe or critical. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever and cough. Sore throat, headache, muscle pain are also common.

In patients with severe COVID-19, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing occurs about 5 days after the first symptoms appear. According to the CDC, it takes 4-5 days from the moment of infection to the onset of symptoms.

During this time, an infected person may not know they are sick - studies show that people can be contagious even before symptoms appear. What symptoms should you check yourself for? What should be the cause for concern? Doctors and scientists have developed schemes for the course of the infection.

The first symptoms of COVID-19 are easy to mistake for the flu.

It is worth explaining:

1. A mild form of COVID-19 doesn't look like a cold, but it can be much more serious. This group included all cases of infection when oxygen was not required.
2. All situations in which the patient required oxygen therapy due to severe breathing problems were considered a more severe form of pathology.
3. Critical cases are those that required connection to a ventilator or led to multiple organ failure.

In accordance with the course of the disease, 4 groups of patients were identified:

• those with virtually no symptoms;
• people with more or less severe symptoms;
• severe patients;
• in critical condition.

The most common signs of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

The coronavirus is asymptomatic in the largest number of patients. Among those who show signs, the most characteristic are:

• temperature;
• dry cough;
• dyspnea;
• fatigue;
• muscle soreness;
• sore throat;
• headache;
• loss or impairment of taste and / or smell as a characteristic symptom.

The first symptoms of coronavirus

What are the first signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection? The pathogen COVID-19 in this regard differs from patient to patient. Some forms are asymptomatic. In other cases, the first symptoms of coronavirus usually appear 5-6 days after contact with the pathogen.

Since the course of infection varies from patient to patient, there are no characteristic symptoms that could be described in the first place, and that signal the development of COVID-19 disease. You must be alert for any symptoms of respiratory infections, such as fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, headache. A common symptom of COVID-19 is impairment or loss of smell and / or taste.

When there are any symptoms that could indicate COVID-19, see your doctor immediately. If he advises you to do this, do a SARS-CoV-2 infection test - PCR or antigens. Until the fact of infection is confirmed, social distance and all precautions that are prescribed during quarantine or home isolation should be observed.

How many days do symptoms occur?

In people infected with SARS-CoV-2, signs of the disease usually appear 5-6 days after the intended period of contact with the pathogen. The latent period of the disease is 1-14 days. This means that there have been cases when symptoms appeared on the 2nd day after infection, but also after 2 weeks. The Ministry of Health currently recommends a 14-day quarantine period.

It is worth considering that COVID-19 may be asymptomatic.

How does COVID-19 go from day to day?

The time from infection to the onset of symptoms is called the incubation period. For SARS-CoV-2, it is very diverse and lasts from 1 to 14 days, although on average it is 5-6 days, and according to some reports, 3-7 days. But it also happens that symptoms of infection appear even after 27 days!

Based on the observation of thousands of patients during the outbreak in China in early 2020, doctors from local hospitals have determined the nature of the symptoms that arise in patients with COVID-19. Their colleagues from Russia and other countries also determined the sequence. In general, the collected data coincide in terms and manifestations.

How does the disease progress from day to day until recovery:

1. Day one: mild symptoms appear. Patients usually feel the temperature first and then cough. Some people may develop a gastrointestinal problem a day or two earlier.
2. Day three: nasal congestion and sore throat appear. A study conducted in more than 550 hospitals in China also showed that on the third day of illness, hospitalized patients developed early pneumonia.
3. Day five: In severe cases of COVID-19, symptoms of infection may worsen. Breathing is difficult, especially in the elderly and those who had health problems prior to infection.
4. Day 7: On average, 7 days after the onset of symptoms, some patients complained of shortness of breath. Patients with a mild form of the disease usually begin to feel an improvement in their well-being.
5. Day Eight: At this stage, patients with severe cases of COVID-19 are most likely to develop shortness of breath, pneumonia, or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
6. Day Nine: Some Wuhan patients developed sepsis, the body's response to an over-immune response.
7. Day 10-11: Patients with ongoing worsening of symptoms may be admitted to the intensive care unit. A person with a mild form usually recovers completely, his sense of smell and taste are restored, laboratory signs of the disease disappear.
8. Day 12: Some seriously infected patients develop ARDS only 2 weeks after the onset of the disease. One study in Wuhan found that patients were admitted to an intensive care unit an average of 12 days after the onset of infection. In moderate cases, patients may feel that the fever has subsided after 12 days. A PCR test for COVID-19 in patients with a mild form shows a negative result, and with ELISA, a significant increase in immunoglobulins G is found, which indicates the presence of immunity to the pathogen.
9. Day 16: On average, on this day, patients with less severe illness begin to relieve their cough.
10. Day 17-21: Patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital. In rare cases, on day 19, some patients may experience shortness of breath.
11. Day 27: Some patients stayed longer in the hospital. But about 75% with moderate and severe forms were discharged from the hospital by this time.

Discharging a patient from the hospital does not always mean complete relief of symptoms. With some infections, symptoms can last for months - a trail of covid leaves the body. Symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, and mental retardation in patients who have been severely affected by COVID-19 may persist longer.

Are the symptoms of coronavirus similar to the flu?

Many signs of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus look like flu symptoms. Both ailments can include fever, coughing, fatigue, runny nose, muscle and joint soreness, headache, and sore throat.

The main difference between signs of influenza and coronavirus is that COVID-19 can track a loss or impairment of taste and / or smell that is not seen with influenza.

Colds from COVID-19 are most often distinguished by a lack of fever and shortness of breath. In the case of a cold, the patient does not suffer from muscle pain, but often has a runny nose and sneezing.

Outcomes

1. According to the WHO, with a mild course of the disease, complete recovery usually takes 2 weeks.
2. The virus primarily infects the respiratory system. The first symptoms usually appear within a few days, although they may even appear several weeks after contact with an infected person.
3. Some people also complain of unusual shortness of breath, arrhythmias, and a drop in blood pressure.
4. The severity of symptoms depends on the initial state of the body. A strong immune system will alleviate your illness and symptoms will go away within two weeks.