Dr Hilary Jones discusses symptoms of ‘Long Covid Syndrome’
Experts fear as many as one in five cases of coronavirus are being missed due to Covid tongue. That means up to 20 percent of cases could be going unaccounted for while people continue to spread the infectious virus. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London (KCL) and who runs the ZOE Covid Symptom Study App, warned he is seeing a rise in the number of people with Covid tongue, and has previously called for the NHS to expand its list to ensure as many cases are spotted in their early stages as possible.
Professor Spector’s team were among the first to spot anosmia, a loss of taste and smell, could be an indicator of who’s carrying the virus.
The epidemiologist tweeted: “One in five people with Covid still present with less common symptoms that don’t get on the official PHE [Public Health England] list – such as skin rashes.
“Seeing an increasing number of Covid tongues and strange mouth ulcers.”
He added: “Thirty-five percent of people have non-classic symptoms in the first three days when most infective.”
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What is Covid tongue?
Covid tongue sees changes in the tongue, with some people reporting small bumps in their mouths, but symptoms as a whole haven’t yet been pinned down.
The condition can also include a swollen tongue, unusual mouth ulcers and little lumps of a red or white colour.
Professor Spector urged people to tweet pictures of their Covid tongue to him in an effort to gain a wider range of what the symptom could look like among different people.
He tweeted: “Keep those Covid tongue pics coming – important to draw attention to these, skin rashes, Covid toes and the 20 plus other symptoms of Covid that go ignored.”
In an interview, Professor Spector said: “We are collecting many anecdotal reports of Covid tongue via the ZOE app and it is associated with long Covid patients.
“We need more analyses before we can put some numbers on how common it is and how predictive it is of Covid.
“Until then, unusual tongue symptoms are likely to suggest Covid, while the virus is still common.”
Professor Spector has repeatedly called for the NHS to expand its list of symptoms to reduce the risk of Brits having to self isolate.
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The expert named the NHS’s list of symptoms as the “briefest in the world”.
Analysis of NHS hospital records show a cough, fever and shortness of breath are the three most common symptoms, with seven out of 10 patients suffering at least one of these three.
But up to a third of patients also have respiratory problems, stomach pains and musculoskeletal symptoms, including muscle and joint pain, and fatigue.
However, while the symptoms could be indicative of Covid-19, they also represent a wide range of other illnesses.
British Dental Association spokesman Professor Damian Walmsley said sore patches are often only an indication that a person is run down and their immune system isn’t at its best.
Professor Walmsley said: “It could also occur in those who have been taking antibiotics, or using asthma inhalers.”
Single white patches on the tongue, however, “can be a bit more worrying” according to the Professor as there’s a small chance it could indicate oral cancer.
A localised white patch or red bump that’s been there for more than three weeks should be checked out as soon as possible by your GP or dentist, the expert said.
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