Parents should be aware of an "unusual rash" that has been linked to cases of the new Omicron Covid strain in children, a British general practitioner said.
Dr David Lloyd, a general practitioner based in north London, has detailed the symptoms of the new variant primarily seen among younger age groups.
Around 15% of children who have been confirmed as having the strain had reportedly developed a rash, he said. Alongside the rash were reports of symptoms including fatigue, headache and loss of appetite.
According to Dr Lloyd, early cases of Omicron appeared to be presenting with slightly different symptoms to different strains. He told Sky News that symptoms like fatigue, headaches and a loss of appetite seemed to be “quite important”, as was the emergence of a rash.
“We’ve always had a small cohort of patients with Covid who are getting funny rashes but up to 15% of the Omicron children are getting an unusual rash,” he said. “So we’re starting to learn a little bit more about the virus and we are starting to look out for it.”
Over the course of the pandemic, the NHS has listed three main symptoms of Covid to look out for in both adults and in children. The short list included a new, continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss of smell or taste. However, there had been calls for the list of symptoms to be expanded, as people with confirmed cases of Covid have reported a number of different symptoms.
Omicron cases in the UK have hit 437 today as 101 new infections have been confirmed.
