As the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread rapidly accross the United States, some health experts have detected that its symptoms are not necessarily the obvious Covid-19 symptoms.

People with Delta do not have the typical loss of smell and taste doctors immediately associate with Covid-19.Instead, many have a running nose or sore throat whichdoctors say could get complicated during the cold or flu season.

The Delta variant is different in many ways and could also become very elusive to diagnose because the symptoms do not follow the most common Covid-19 symptoms.

“This virus more efficiently bind to these cells then enter those cells and may in some ways elude the immune system more effectively. That is what makes it more contagious and more likely to do damage in communities with lower vaccination rates.”says a doctor with Novant Health, Dr David Priest.

The Delta variant is nearly twice as contagious as prior variants and just as contagious as chickenpox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It replicates rapidly in the body, and people carry large amounts of the virus in their nose and throat.

Dr. Andrew T. Chan, an epidemiologist and physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the lead investigators of the Covid Symptom Study says “the symptoms we are seeing now are much more commonly identified with the common cold. “

“We are still seeing people presenting with a cough, but we are also seeing a higher prevalence of things like runny nose and sneezing. Headaches and sore throat are other top complaints, fever and loss of taste and smell are being reported to a lesser degree.” He added.

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