Key TakeawaysResearchers found that a person’s age and sex may influence which early signs of COVID-19 they’re more likely to experience.Fever, a commonly reported COVID-19 symptom, was not found to be an early marker of the virus in this study.Doctors stress the importance of getting tested, regardless of your early symptoms.

Key Takeaways

Researchers found that a person’s age and sex may influence which early signs of COVID-19 they’re more likely to experience.Fever, a commonly reported COVID-19 symptom, was not found to be an early marker of the virus in this study.Doctors stress the importance of getting tested, regardless of your early symptoms.

Early symptoms of COVID-19 may be different based on a person’s sex and age, according to new research.

The July study, which was published inThe Lancet Digital Health, analyzed data collected between April and October 2020 from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, a UK-based app that invites people to report how they’re feeling on a daily basis.

The researchers analyzed 18 symptoms from 182,991 people and found that the following were the most important signs for early detection of the virus:

But the findings weren’t consistent across all age groups and sexes. The researchers found that loss of smell wasn’t a significant early sign in people over the age of 60, and wasn’t relevant at all for those over the age of 80. Instead, people over the age of 60 were more likely to exhibit diarrhea as an early symptom.

Also worth noting: Fever wasn’t an early symptom in anyone, regardless of their age.

The researchers also found a difference in early symptoms between men and women. Men were more likely to say they had shortness of breath, fatigue, chills, and shivers. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to report having loss of smell, chest pain, and a persistent cough.

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“As part of our study, we have been able to identify that the profile of symptoms due to COVID-19 differs from one group to another,” Marc Modat, PhD, senior lecturer at King’s College Londonsaid in a press release. “This suggests that the criteria to encourage people to get tested should be personalized using individuals' information such as age. Alternatively, a larger set of symptoms could be considered, so the different manifestations of the disease across different groups are taken into account.”

What This Means For You

Why Might Symptoms Present Differently?

Infectious disease expertAmesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Verywell that hormonal differences may help explain the sex differences in early symptoms.

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As for age-related differences, Adalja says that it can have a lot to do with the individual and their health before they became symptomatic.

“Symptoms may or may not be prominent to individuals based on different age groups based on their baseline level of function, how noticeable it is, and how prominent it may be to the person—especially if an older person is experiencing more prominent symptoms and loss of smell becomes an afterthought,” Adalja says.

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Still, experts point out that this is a modeling study based on self-reported data, which leaves some room for error.

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Overall, experts say, if you’re having unusual symptoms and you suspect they may be due to COVID-19, it’s important to get them checked out.

Adalja points out that early symptoms of COVID-19 “may be very subtle” and, as a result, “there should be a low threshold, especially in unvaccinated individuals, to get tested—especially with the availability of rapid home tests.”

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

1 SourceVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Canas L, Sudre C, Capdevila Pujol J et al.Early detection of COVID-19 in the UK using self-reported symptoms: a large-scale, prospective, epidemiological surveillance study.The Lancet Digital Health. 2021;3(9):e587-e598. doi:10.1016/s2589-7500(21)00131-x

1 Source

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Canas L, Sudre C, Capdevila Pujol J et al.Early detection of COVID-19 in the UK using self-reported symptoms: a large-scale, prospective, epidemiological surveillance study.The Lancet Digital Health. 2021;3(9):e587-e598. doi:10.1016/s2589-7500(21)00131-x

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Canas L, Sudre C, Capdevila Pujol J et al.Early detection of COVID-19 in the UK using self-reported symptoms: a large-scale, prospective, epidemiological surveillance study.The Lancet Digital Health. 2021;3(9):e587-e598. doi:10.1016/s2589-7500(21)00131-x

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