Scientists call for self-isolation when a cold occurs
Fully vaccinated adults who have contracted the coronavirus mostly now experience only symptoms similar to mild colds, according to a prominent British expert. Genetic epidemiology professor Tim Spector has urged anyone with symptoms to self-isolate until they test negative for COVID.
According to a new study, one in three people with a runny nose or cold symptoms actually have coronavirus, writes the Daily Mail.
Professor Tim Spector, who is conducting a COVID study tracking data on one million Britons, said that fully vaccinated adults generally develop only mild symptoms of the common cold. The scientist warned that many infected people “go to parties and spread the disease.”
The professor of genetic epidemiology has urged anyone with symptoms such as a runny nose or sore throat to isolate themselves and avoid all Christmas parties until they test negative.
Professor Spector, who leads the Zoe Covid study at King’s College London, says: “At this point, we assume that between a third and a quarter of every cold case is actually associated with COVID.”
The expert told Times Radio that it is necessary “to get more people to isolate themselves for at least a few days with cold symptoms.”
“This is a fairly high percentage of people who currently don’t even bother to take a sidestream test or take a PCR test, but go to parties and spread the virus,” says Tim Spector.
To contain the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID, Professor Spector said people should stay at home for several days if they show any signs of a cold – just in case.
Scientists hope the Omicron variant will not cause more severe symptoms and that the T-cell immunity provided by vaccines will prevent serious illness. T cells are a type of white blood cell that kills COVID.
Matthew Snape, associate professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said trials are underway in the UK to see how well Omicron evades the immunity it received after vaccination: “The next few weeks will be as revealing and important as when we get the laboratory data. so if we start to see any side effect of infections affecting hospitalization and mortality … This will become evident in the next few weeks. We will need to see what happens in December and early January. “
See also: “Scientists were worried about the battles between coronavirus mutants:” Omicron “against” Delta “
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