JAKARTA - COVID-19 BA.5 has become the most widely spread subvariant not only in the United States, but in various other countries including Indonesia. However, there are BA.5 symptoms that distinguish this variant from several previous COVID-19 variants, as quoted from The New York Times on Saturday.
Experts say that broadly speaking this subvariance does not have much difference compared to the previous Omicron variant. Patients infected with BA.5 usually experience symptoms of cough, runny nose, sore throat (inflammation), joint pain, headache and feeling tired.
However, there is one thing that distinguishes BA.5 from other variants is that it is rare for BA.5 patients to experience anosmia or loss of sense of taste and smell.
"BA.5 patients also rarely experience shortness of breath, a symptom that is most experienced by patients with the Delta variant or other Covid variants," said Dr. Peter Chin Hong.
Meanwhile, a pulmonary disease expert from Cleveland Clinic Dr. Joseph Khabbaza said BA.5 patients tend to experience upper respiratory symptoms from the larynx to the tip of the nose.
"Many patients with BA.5 experience pain due to sinus blockage and severe sore throat," Khabbaza said as quoted by ANTARA.
Head of the infectious diseases division of children at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, Dr. Adam Ratner said there was no evidence to suggest that the BA.5 subvariant was more severe than the previous variant, Omicron.
"But BA.5 is more contagious," concluded Ratner.
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