COVID-19 and Your Health (2023)

FAQs

How can COVID-19 affect your health? ›

During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may experience stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and loneliness. And mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, can worsen.

You may continue to test positive on antigen tests for a few weeks after your initial positive. You may continue to test positive on NAATs for up to 90 days. Reinfections can occur within 90 days, which can make it hard to know if a positive test indicates a new infection.

Do adults younger than 65 who are otherwise healthy need to worry about COVID-19? Yes, they do. Although the risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 increases steadily with age, younger people can get sick enough from the disease to require hospitalization.

Social isolation is one of the biggest mental health challenges we are facing with this crisis. Many people are living alone or away from their support systems, which are usually essential wellbeing boosters in a time of crisis.

If you notice that you are exhibiting a few of these common signs of distress, the following steps may help you take control of your mental and emotional health: Take care of physical health. Exercise regularly and don't neglect your physical health during this time. Go for a walk, jog, do yoga, or just get moving.

We know that people tend to be most infectious early in the course of their infection. With Omicron, most transmission occurs during the one to two days before onset of symptoms, and in the two to three days afterwards.

The researchers found that patient samples did not contain infectious material after eight days following the onset of symptoms. This means, that up until eight days, the patients can still spread the disease. After that point, patients are unlikely to spread the virus.

A sore throat could range from feelings of scratchiness to severe pain. Some people say a COVID sore throat feels like allergies. Others say it is like having strep throat.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms. Possible symptoms include: Fever or chills.

How long does a COVID cough last? ›

In the case of COVID-19, this cough could last for as long as six months after the viral infection, especially if the patient contracted Omicron because it is more airway dependent than the original strain.

What is long COVID? Most people with coronavirus (COVID-19) feel better within a few days or weeks of their first symptoms and make a full recovery within 12 weeks. For some people, symptoms can last longer. This is called long COVID or post COVID-19 syndrome.

Take care of yourself, eat regularly, exercise, sleep enough and reduce all other sources of stress. Do things that give you back the control of your own life. Dedicate time to activities that improve your mood. That can be listening to music, a film, a good book, a hobby you haven't had time for before.

Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home. You can treat symptoms with over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), to help you feel better. Learn more about what to do if you are sick.

A common symptom of COVID-19 is a dry cough, which is also known as an unproductive cough (a cough that doesn't produce any phlegm or mucus). Most people with dry cough experience it as a tickle in their throat or as irritation in their lungs.

Paxlovid is the latest COVID-19 treatment that's been all over the news. The drug was granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December for anyone ages 12 and older who weighs at least 88 pounds, and is at high risk for severe disease.

Can you get COVID twice? ›

Reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 means a person was infected, recovered, and then later became infected again. After recovering from COVID-19, most individuals will have some protection from repeat infections. However, reinfections do occur after COVID-19.

BA.5 symptoms are similar to previous COVID-19 variants and subvariants. The most common symptoms include fever, runny nose, coughing, sore throat, headache, muscle pain and fatigue.

The original Omicron strain has a relatively mild version of the virus, causing less severe disease and death than Delta, which preceded it.

If you have a wet cough with lots of mucus, you want to take an expectorant to help get the mucus out. If you have a dry cough, a cough suppressant is what you want. Make sure you choose the right one. For pain, try acetaminophen.

Headache is one of the earliest and most common symptoms during the acute phase of COVID-19; characteristically it appears as oppressive pain in the upper/frontal part of the head and affects between 14 and 60% of patients during the acute COVID-19 phase [13, 14].

Based on what researchers have learned about COVID-19 thus far, the first symptoms—which generally occur within seven days after infection—can include the following, which are listed in order of their usual appearance: Fever or chills. A persistent cough.

Researchers have discovered that some of the prominent features of a COVID-19 headache include: Having a pulsing, pressing, or stabbing sensation. Occurring bilaterally (across the whole head) Presenting with severe pressure that won't respond to typical pain relievers, like ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

How long do COVID-19 headaches last? Headaches from COVID-19 illness usually last 10 to 14 days. But people can still experience headaches even after they recover. One study found that more than half of people continued having COVID-related symptoms up to 6 months after their illness.

Is a COVID cough dry or wet? ›

What Kind of Cough Is Common in People With the Coronavirus? Most people with COVID-19 have a dry cough they can feel in their chest.

About one-third of people with COVID-19 experience a cough with mucus (phlegm). This is due to lung congestion that can occur during the infection and persist even after it resolves. Your lungs and airways can start to produce extra phlegm when you catch a virus like COVID-19.

In some people with long Covid, heart palpitations may be caused by a problem with their autonomic nervous system (which controls things such as your heart rate, breathing and blood pressure). This condition is called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS).

Isolation can be discontinued at least 5 days after symptom onset (day 0 is the day symptoms appeared, and day 1 is the next full day thereafter) if fever has resolved for at least 24 hours (without taking fever-reducing medications) and other symptoms are improving.

In addition to having grave health consequences, the pandemic has also crushed our goals, upended our family dynamics and job roles and undermined out economic stability. As a result, the unprecedented global crisis caused by the pandemic has had a major impact on our mental health.

Information overload, rumors and misinformation can make your life feel out of control and make it unclear what to do. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may experience stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and loneliness. And mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, can worsen.

A person may have mild symptoms for about one week, then worsen rapidly. Let your doctor know if your symptoms quickly worsen over a short period of time.

How has the pandemic affected mental health in students? ›

“20% of college students say their mental health has worsened…” Read more. “Nearly three in 10 (29%) say their child is “already experiencing harm” to their emotional or mental health because of social distancing and closures.

Some common causes of stress during the coronavirus pandemic are uncertainty, lack of routine and reduced social support, says Mark Flanagan, LMSW, MPH, MA, a social worker at Cancer Wellness at Piedmont.

They should wear a mask through day 10. A test-based strategy may be used to remove a mask sooner. People with moderate or severe COVID-19 should isolate through at least day 10. Those with severe COVID-19 may remain infectious beyond 10 days and may need to extend isolation for up to 20 days.

If you had symptoms

If you test positive for COVID-19, stay home for at least 5 days and isolate from others in your home. You are likely most infectious during these first 5 days. Wear a high-quality mask if you must be around others at home and in public. Do not go places where you are unable to wear a mask.

Thus, if the person being tested has recently had COVID-19 and completed their period of isolation, it is possible for that person to receive a negative antigen test result and a positive confirmatory NAAT, potentially indicating a persistent detection of SARS-CoV-2 after recovery from COVID-19.

Reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 means a person was infected, recovered, and then later became infected again. After recovering from COVID-19, most individuals will have some protection from repeat infections. However, reinfections do occur after COVID-19.

How long do omicron symptoms last? Most people who test positive with any variant of COVID-19 typically experience some symptoms for a couple weeks.

The virus spreads when other people breathe in infected droplets or when the droplets land in the eyes, nose or mouth of a person nearby. Infection with the COVID-19 virus may also occur if someone is exposed to very small droplets or aerosols that stay in the air for several minutes or hours.

(2021). Naturally acquired SARS-CoV-2 immunity persists for up to 11 months following infection. The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

You are considered contagious from two days before your symptoms begin until 10 days after your symptoms began. If you have no symptoms, you are considered contagious beginning two days before your test sample was collected and until 10 days after your test sample was collected.

How long are you contagious if you're vaccinated? ›

You do need two weeks for your immune system to mount its full response. You are then considered fully immunized. If you're fully vaccinated, you can now be safely with other people in your private life, in your home or their home, if they are also fully immunized.

But a negative test is not a guarantee you do not have COVID-19 and there's still a chance you may be infectious. You should follow advice on how to avoid catching and spreading the virus.

That you likely have an active COVID-19 infection. Antigen tests can give false positive results. If you do not have symptoms but you receive a positive antigen result, your health care provider may recommend a molecular test to confirm the result.

Symptoms during reinfection are likely to be less severe than during the initial infection, but some people can experience more severe COVID-19 during reinfection.

The virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals during close contact. Pets worldwide, including cats and dogs, have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19. The risk of pets spreading COVID-19 to people is low.

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms.