Feeling a bit under the weather? There's a chance it might be due to one of the new Covid strains making their rounds. In the UK, one of the prevalent variants is XFG, also known as Stratus.
Health experts reassure that these variants don't seem to pose a greater threat than earlier strains, nor do they cause more severe illness. Nonetheless, the virus's recent genetic tweaks might make infection more likely and lead to slightly altered symptoms, such as a scratchy throat. Dr. Kaywaan Khan, a Harley Street GP and founder of Hannah London Clinic, highlighted to the Mirror, "While you can still experience typical cold symptoms, like a cough or runny nose, we're noticing a significant increase in hoarseness of voice." He mentioned, "While not definitive, this can occur with a common cold too, but with Covid, you might experience some laryngitis and thus the hoarse voice." This symptom profile differs somewhat from earlier strains.