Omicron symptoms: What we know about the illness caused by the new subvariants

Omicron symptoms: What we know about illness caused by the new subvariants Symptoms of omicron and the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are similar, doctors say. They're all still Covid, and they can still cause severe disease. NBC News

The current wave of the omicron variant of the coronavirus making its way across the U.S. — dominated by the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 — is sparking new concerns about a seemingly endless cycle of Covid infections.

Although there are still uncertainties about the different versions of the omicron variant, experts have a clearer understanding about it and how it affects people who are vaccinated or unvaccinated or who have previously had cases of Covid.

What are the symptoms of omicron?

For most people, at least those who are up to date on their Covid vaccinations, the original type of the omicron variant caused a milder illness that resembled the common cold, another form of the coronavirus.

Anecdotally, doctors say, the symptoms of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are mostly similar to those of the earlier version of the variant.

"As far as we can tell, the BA.5 has not really proven too much different from the previous omicron waves," said Dr. Bernard Camins, the medical director for infection prevention for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. "We just know that it's more contagious."

Dr. Roy Gulick, the chief of infectious diseases at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, said typical symptoms of the omicron subvariants include:

...

ALSO SEE: The summer of subvariants