Covid Pirola symptom that affects your taste as new wave of infections hit UK

Concerned scientists have said that a new mutation of coronavirus is currently sweeping the UK, and could have some less-known, nasty symptoms.

Hospital admissions are now on the rise, and with a cold winter in store, booster vaccines have now been brought forward, reports the Mirror.

Scientists have now estimated that there are cases of the Pirola Covid variant in most UK regions, after it was first detected in Denmark in July. As of September 18, the highly mutated strain from Omicron has now been confirmed in 54 positive Covid cases.

Now, with testing levels no longer at the levels that they were at in 2021 and 2022, the real figures could be much higher.

According to the UK Government, the main symptoms of the Pirola variant are similar to the original coronavirus strain:

• High fever
• Cough
• Cold
• A loss of sense of taste or smell

Experts have warned that while there is currently no evidence that the new variant will make people more ill, there is not yet enough proof that it is any less capable of causing serious illness, or death.

The strain, dubbed BA.2.86 by scientists, has 35 mutations as part of the virus, some of which could help the strain avoid the natural protection that people provide through their immune system.

This means that people’s immunity isn’t as high as it could be, so we could see another large wave of infections and people becoming sick.

University of Nottingham virologist Professor Jonathan Ball said: “Pirola has made people sit up because of the unusually large number of mutations. Viruses naturally mutate to survive.

“But when there’s 30 or more mutations, scientists need to ask what that means. Does it make vaccines less effective, could it transmit more easily than Omicron and does it cause more serious disease?”

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