Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 23) — The Delta variant first found in India may be linked to different symptoms, with headache as the most common, an expert said Wednesday.
“Ang headache po ang lumalabas na number one symptom (Headaches turn out to be the number one symptom), according to the report from the UK,” said Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz, executive director of the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH).
The World Health Organization has said the most common COVID-19 symptoms are fever, dry cough, and fatigue.
Cutiongco-de la Paz added that being infected with the Delta variant may feel like a “bad cold” for younger people in the UK.
She also cited the case of China. “In southeast China, there are reports that patients are becoming sicker and deteriorating more quickly than the patient they treated with the original virus at the start of the pandemic,” she said.
Cutiongco-de la Paz also said more people are likely to be hospitalized due to the Delta variant, based on preliminary studies.
These things underscore the need to complete the COVID-19 vaccination because two doses boost protection against variants – including Delta – she said, citing a British study.
A research conducted by Public Health England found that a single dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines reduced one’s risk of developing COVID-19 symptoms caused by the Delta variant first found in India by 33%, and 50% against the Alpha variant first detected in the UK.
But the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the Delta rose to 60%, and 66% against the Alpha after the second dose.
Meanwhile, two shots of the Pfizer vaccine were said to be 88% effective against the Delta variant, and 93% against the Alpha.
“One dose of the vaccine is less effective, but two doses are still strongly effective,” Cutiongco-de la Paz said.
Alpha carries the N501Y mutation, which appears to make the coronavirus easier to spread than the original SARS-CoV-2. But the Delta variant is around 60% more contagious than the Alpha, Cutiongco-de la Paz warned. It is also likely to escape from weak neutralizing antibodies, she added.
