Does the coronavirus Delta variant cause different symptoms?
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The coronavirus (COVID-19) Delta variant, a highly transmissible mutated form of the virus, could cause patients to exhibit different symptoms than those experienced by earlier iterations of the disease. Researchers in the U.K., where the Delta variant now accounts for 99% of all coronavirus cases, have observed a shift in which symptoms are most typically reported. Initially, persistent coughing, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell were the predominant symptoms associated with the coronavirus. However, in recent months, as the Delta variant has spread, patients are more regularly reporting different symptoms that are typically associated with a common cold or upper respiratory infection. Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings College London, is conducting an ongoing coronavirus study in the U.K. where patients use a mobile app to submit their symptoms for analysis. Spector said that since May, the most commonly-listed symptoms have shifted from coughing, shortness of breath and loss of senses to headache, sore throat, runny nose and fever, symptoms typically associated with a cold, according to a CNBC report. COVID is also acting differently now, Spector said in a YouTube briefing. Its more like a bad cold in this younger population, and people dont realize that.  Similar trends have been observed in the United States, where health experts are seeing more and more patients report upper respiratory symptoms alongside the symptoms more commonly associated with the virus, according to NBCNews. ABOUT THE DELTA VARIANT  The Delta variant, first discovered in India last fall, has rapidly spread across the globe, reaching at least 85 countries so far. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the Delta variant is more transmissible than other forms of the virus, carrying several mutations that allow it to more easily infect human cells. We learned this virus, a variant of COVID, is highly transmissible -- the most transmissible weve seen to date, U.S. Surgeon-General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN Wednesday. The variants increased transmissibility has caused it to spread quickly in the countries in which it has been discovered, with the variant accounting for 99% of U.K. coronavirus cases by mid-June, according to Public Health England. Here in the U.S. it is doing very similar things. It seems to be on its way to becoming the dominant lineage in the U.S., Andrew Pekosz, a professor of immunology and molecular microbiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN. The Delta variant has been identified in all 50 states, accounting for 26% of all new U.S. coronavirus cases by June 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.