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A cough and fever are the most common symptoms of Vermont’s first Covid-19 patients, according to new data released by the Vermont Department of Health.
State officials have been compiling data on symptoms, travel history, comorbidities and other characteristics of people who test positive for the new coronavirus to help health care providers better understand what this new disease looks like in patients.
The patients included in the sample so far are the first 36 people in the state who tested positive and 60 people selected from subsequent weeks of testing. The overviews come in biweekly updates the department sends to health care providers, and only include data from patients selected during those two-week intervals.
The Health Department does not have the resources to collect this information about everyone who tests positive for Covid-19, according to state officials. While it is likely not representative of every case of the coronavirus in Vermont, it does help health care providers get a better understanding of the new illness.
“This isn’t reflecting an organized testing of every fifth house on the block for the state of Vermont,” said Jennifer Read, the medical epidemiologist in charge of the effort. “It’s people who are symptomatic, and it’s trying to describe what their symptoms are” for clinicians.
A VTDigger analysis of data from the state’s first three overviews, through April 24, shows that coughing is the most common Covid-19 symptom among those sampled. Almost 70% of patients reported a cough.
Just over half of the patients had a fever, while fatigue, muscle weakness, shortness of breath and nasal congestion were the other most common symptoms. One person had no symptoms.
An increasing number of the Covid-19 patients included in the overviews are using telehealth services, rather than seeking health care in person.
“It’s a minority that actually are coming in to see clinicians,” said Read.
Understanding how this new disease manifests in patients has proven challenging for epidemiologists and doctors. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention originally listed shortness of breath, fever and coughing as symptoms of Covid-19; that list was expanded earlier this month to include chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and recently developed loss of taste or smell.
But doctors in Vermont and around the world are reporting a range of other symptoms in Covid-19 patients. Dermatologists have started collecting information on skin conditions associated with Covid-19, ranging from a rash on the torso to “Covid toes.” Gastrointestinal distress, something found in a small percentage of the Vermont patients sampled, has also been linked to Covid-19 in some early studies.
“What we say about it in six months will likely be quite different than how we describe it right now,” said Read. “The more patients you see, the longer you have interactions with patients, the more you’re going to learn about it.”
Scientists are learning that many people infected with Covid-19 have no symptoms. With the exception of some mass testing efforts in facilities like nursing homes, Vermonters must have Covid-19 symptoms for their doctor to sign off on a test. That means there is likely a higher proportion of people in Vermont who have had the disease but not shown symptoms than is reflected in the positive case overview.
Health Commissioner Mark Levine said earlier this month that the state is partnering with the CDC to conduct antibody testing of around 10% of Vermonters in a couple months. That “seroprevalence study” would provide a better understanding of who has contracted the disease.
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