Sore throat could be mild Covid warn Spanish doctors

Doctors believe that a new mild form of Covid is currently active, which despite testing does not show up positive.

It is thought that a new variant of the disease is on the increase, with many cases being reported of a very intense sore throat that does not go away with anti-inflammatory medicines, according to Nuis, Friday, May 2.

Despite the seemingly diminishing threat of Covid, doctors are seeing an increasing number of cases characterised by an intense sore throat that lasts for days and does not register even after taking a home test.

Many patients have been surprised to hear the diagnosis from their doctor when they hear the dreaded word ‘Covid.’

It appears that the virus has changed so much that the basic home tests are now out of date with the new variants, and do not recognise the new strains of Omicron that are now circulating.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Society of General and Family Doctors (SEMG), Lorenzo Armenteros said: ‘We are seeing a lot of cases like this, yes, with a very intense sore throat, which does not go away with the usual anti-inflammatory drugs. In many cases, we are using corticoids.’ And yes, his suspicion is the same, Covid.

The symptoms to be aware of include severe sore throat, conjunctivitis, and fever. One doctor expanded on this by saying that the very intense sore throat, generally without fever, is sometimes accompanied by conjunctivitis in some cases. A viral illness that lasts between 7 and 14 days and evolves into other symptoms also typical of Covid and other infections such as a cough and mucus.

So what is the best course of action? One doctor advised: ‘All we have to do is get through it, trust the immune system and let it do its job, which takes a few days.’ Antibiotics are no use because it is not a bacterial infection. Armenteros agrees with this and said: ‘No antibiotics in these cases, it doesn’t improve and only serves to generate resistance.’

He continued: ‘It is a process of generating immunity, and as long as we have it, because we have vaccines and previous infections, we are well protected.’ But he added a caution: ‘The risk is that the chances of persistent covid, or complications, multiply as the number of infections increases.’

For elderly and vulnerable patients, a PCR test is usually done which is a much more specific and sensitive test, and they are more up-to-date.

For the moment everything is still omicron, which is good news. However, the general advice is not to lower one’s guard. As one expert concluded: ‘I’m not going to say that this is over, something could appear at any time, this virus has already given us too many surprises.’