Patients who showed signs of having COVID-19 likely had one of three specific symptoms, according to a new survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The three symptoms were:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
The CDC published the results of the new survey on Thursday. It reviewed data from 164 people in a lab, all of whom had COVID-19. The patients all showed symptoms of COVID-19. They were sick from Jan. 14 to April 4.
For the analysis, the CDC sent a survey to all the patients “to report on a wide variety of symptoms and also asked to report on any additional symptoms that were not widely recognized,” according to CNN.
In total, 96% had either fever, cough or shortness of breath. About half of that — 45% — experienced all three of those symptoms.
Coughs were the most common, with 84% saying they had a cough. Meanwhile, 80% said they had a fever. Shortness of breath remained common among those who were sent to the hospital.
These three symptoms come as the CDC continues to update its guidelines for COVID-19 symptoms. The organization quietly added three symptoms at the end of June, including congestion or runny nose, nausea and diarrhea, which hadn’t been there before, as I wrote for Deseret.com.