COVID-19 symptoms can last for months. Knowing hallmark signs
and when to seek medical attention is a must to protect you and your loved ones.
Hi everyone I'm Dr. Seema Yasmin. I'm a doctor and a medical journalist at the Stanford Center for
Health Education. I know there's a ton of questions out there about COVID-19 so today
I'm going to be talking about COVID symptoms, prevention and what to do if you get infected.
First up, what does it mean if you have COVID-19? Well basically it means you've been infected
with the coronavirus known as sars-cov-2. Sar stands for Severe Acute Respiratory
syndrome and the Cov part of the name short for Coronavirus. Sars-Cov-1 was a slightly different
virus that caused a more limited pandemic in 2003. Covid-19 is the name of the disease that's
caused by this newer coronavirus so the symptoms of Covid-19 include fever and chills, cough, muscle
and body aches, fatigue, a sore throat, congestion, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, diarrhea,
headache, nausea, and vomiting. So it's a long list of symptoms. And another symptom that can
occur with Covid-19 is loss of taste and loss of smell, or your sense of smell getting messed up.
This happens to about half of the adults who get Covid. In general Covid symptoms typically
appear two days to two weeks after exposure to the virus. Emergency warning signs for Covid that
require immediate medical attention are trouble breathing, persistent pain, or pressure in the chest,
sudden confusion, inability to wake up or to stay awake, and the skin, lips, and nail beds turning
pale gray or blue. This does depend on a person's skin color though, and in dark skinned people it
can be easier to see these signs in and around the mouth and lips. What about the complications
caused by Covid-19? We've been hearing a lot about this and research is underway to understand
the complications of Sars-Cov-2 infection. Right now we do know that some people have
suffered complications to their lungs, their heart, kidneys, and some other organs. As for long-term
consequences of Covid there's a condition called post Covid syndrome or long-Covid. This is where
symptoms persist for weeks or even many months after a person is first infected with the virus.
Long Covid occurs in about one in ten but sometimes even up to one in three people
who get Covid and they experience things like chronic fatigue, debilitating exhaustion, as well
as, headaches, trouble sleeping, and brain fog. Other long-term symptoms can include shortness of breath,
chest tightness, muscle aches, and diarrhea. Covid -19 has also been linked to respiratory failure,
longer term lung and heart damage, and nervous system problems. When it comes to Covid
not everyone gets seriously sick with it but some people do suffer what we call severe Covid.
Severe Covid is when a person needs to go to hospital and be admitted,
need things like breathing support. The people who are most vulnerable to getting severe Covid are
those over the age of 65. People of any age who have health conditions like obesity, diabetes,
chronic lung diseases, asthma, sickle cell disease, and immunosuppression. You may have already been
through the testing process for Covid so you may have some idea about how to confirm a diagnosis.
Usually involves having the inside of your nose swabbed and in the U.S. you can get one of these
Covid tests from many local chained pharmacies for free. Bin mind though, that a test for Covid
antibodies is not the same thing as a diagnostic test. These are two different things. Antibody
testing, usually done through a blood test, it's like looking in the rear view mirror it tells you
if you have had Covid-19 in the past, not if you have an active infection at that point in time.
If you have tested positive for Covid with a diagnostic test or are showing symptoms and
suspect you have the virus, the first thing you need to do is isolate so that you don't infect
other people. Then what you can do is self-monitor at home since the majority of people who contract
the virus that causes Covid, they get mild symptoms and are able to recover on their own with plenty
of time and rest. There are a few strategies for self-monitoring at home a great place to start
is the CDC's coronavirus self-checker. This is an online tool that assesses the severity of symptoms
for anyone who's over the age of 13. What it does is it gives you information on what to do based on
your symptoms. I've linked to this resource below and you can use it to determine how best to manage
your symptoms. Another great method for monitoring symptoms is to use a home pulse oximeter if
you can get your hands on one. This is a device that measures the amount of oxygen in your body
and low oxygen levels but anything below 95 that's a red flag, that's a warning
sign that you need to get medical attention quickly even if your other symptoms are mild.
Knowing when to seek medical treatment when it comes to Covid is really important if you're
part of a high risk group. Say you have a medical condition like heart disease or diabetes, then you
need to contact your doctor as soon as you suspect that you are infected with Sars-Cov-2 regardless
of the severity of your symptoms at that time. If you're not though part of a high-risk population
stay at home monitor your symptoms to check if you need emergency medical treatment and then reach
out to doctors or nurses as appropriate. Severe symptoms that require emergency medical attention
include trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, as well as new confusion,
not being able to wake up or stay awake, inability to drink enough fluids to stay hydrated, and pale
or blue skin, lips, or nails. If you experience any of these symptoms you should seek medical
care immediately. Make sure that you are aware of your local hospital or clinic's Covid-19 policies
and if possible call them before you make the visit. So how is Covid treated? If you're staying at
home, then rest and hydration are the best remedies. You can take an over-the-counter medicine such
as paracetamol also known as acetaminophen to help you with aches and pains and fever.
When someone is hospitalized for Covid-19 at this point there's no drug that cures them but there
are assistive therapies to help people with complications of Covid. Some people may need oxygen
or assisted ventilation to help them breathe. There are also monoclonal antibody treatments.
These are proteins that are made in the lab that can help fight the disease. Newer therapies to
treat Covid are still being explored and bear in mind that antibiotics treat bacterial infections
not viral ones, so they can still be used in Covid patients but only if those Covid patients
are suffering a bacterial infection on top of Covid. You've also probably heard lots about drugs
such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. These are not approved for the treatment or cure of Covid.
We've talked about treatment but really prevention is what's so important, so to stay safe stay at
least six feet apart from people, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and have really good hand hygiene. While
the pandemic continues avoid crowded communal areas and for things like shopping try to get
one person in the family, someone who's vaccinated and at low risk for disease do that. Of course the
best way to prevent Covid is to get vaccinated. For adults who get the vaccine there's a less than one
percent chance of being hospitalized due to Covid, and finally as vaccination rates around the world
increase you might be asking this question- When will the pandemic end? Well reality check,
Coronaviruses have been with us for a really long time, they're not completely going away anytime
soon, but when it comes to this newer coronavirus vaccines are what will help us limit the spread
of the virus and also limit the number of people getting severely sick and dying from the disease.
So it's really important now that to slow down the pandemic to ensure the virus
has fewer people to infect that we all get vaccinated and if we're able to do that if we're
able to get enough people vaccinated stop newer viral variants from developing the virus will no
longer be able to cause a pandemic and instead it will be endemic. Which means that the virus
is still around but enough people have immune protection to it so there's less spread of it,
fewer Covid hospitalizations, and far fewer deaths. That's it from me today for more
information click on the links below. I hope this answers your questions, helps clear up some of the
misinformation and disinformation that's spreading, and I hope it keeps you better informed and safe.