The most common and most stubborn COVID symptoms currently

The BA.4 and BA.5 variants in particular have led to a shift in the most common symptoms associated with COVID infections this summer, NBC Chicago reported.

We're seeing more what we call upper respiratory symptoms more recently,

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said.

We're seeing a lot of more sore throats, fatigue, still seem some fever for sure, runny nose. Less sort of affecting the lungs, kind of whole body.

She added that a cough will likely be the symptom that lingers longest, while a fever will be among the first symptoms to fade.

"Cough tends to be the most lingering effect. That's true whenever you have any viral infection," Arwady said during a Facebook Live.

"You can be feeling totally better, you're still gonna have some irritation and... a cough doesn't mean you're contagious past 10 days but that's usually the last to go away."

Fatigue is another symptom that can last a bit longer, she said.

The CDC says most people with COVID-19 "get better within a few days to a few weeks after infection."

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, early symptoms of COVID-19 typically include fatigue, headache, sore throat or a fever. Some patients also experience a loss of taste or smell as an early or their first symptom, though Arwady noted there is less of that with the most recent variants than there was earlier on in the pandemic.

She added that headaches and rashes can both also be symptoms associated with the virus, though they aren't as common as the upper respiratory indicators.

Still, some symptoms, such as shortness of breath, have become less prevalent as the virus continues to mutate.

"In terms of symptoms and what people have it's been so incredibly heterogeneous," said Dr. Sharon Welbel, the director of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control for Cook County Health.

I find with omicron we do know that still the most common is fever, cough - not so much shortness of breath anymore like we had with the Wuhan virus, but fever, sore throat and, as I said, cough.

Experts do caution patients that the severity, or even the type, of initial symptoms can vary widely from person to person.

"I think it's really variable depending from person to person," Welbel said. "It depends on age, it depends on comorbid illness, it depends on vaccine status, if one has been infected before potentially their [...] immune system is revved up more [...] So, I think that there's no way to protect it to predict it."

A recent study from Northwestern Medicine showed that many so-called COVID "long-haulers" continue to experience symptoms like brain fog, tingling, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus and fatigue an average of 15 months after the onset of the virus.

"Long-haulers,” are defined as individuals who have had COVID symptoms for six or more weeks, the hospital system has said.

But, according to the CDC, four weeks after infection is when post-COVID conditions could first be identified.

Cover photo: Getty Images