Aching muscles could be sign of most serious coronavirus cases, doctors warn

ACHING muscles could be a sign of the most serious coronavirus cases, doctors are warning. 

US researchers say Covid-19 patients with severe muscle soreness will be hit the hardest by the virus - and will likely go on to develop severe respiratory disease.

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Currently, the NHS only lists a new, continuous cough and a high temperature as the two main signs of the new coronavirus.

However, researchers at New York University discovered the link between aching muscles and severe cases of Covid-19 after analysing records from 53 patients in Wenzhou, China.

Most of the participants were in their 30s or 40s, and nearly two-thirds were men.

Megan Coffee, infectious-disease clinician and lead author of the study, told they carried out the study to "assist doctors in that first stage to be able to identify who may become sick of the many mild cases".

One of the recurring signs they found in those with severe lung disease was deep muscle aches, known clinically as myalgia.

Myalgia can involve ligaments, tendons and fascia, the soft tissues that connect muscles, bones and organs.

Myalgia has also previously been linked to higher general inflammation in the body.

And, according to the World Health Organization, about 15 per cent of all coronavirus patients experienced body aches or joint pain.

The aches are triggered by chemicals called cytokines - which the body releases while responding to the infection.

As well as muscle soreness, the researchers found that changes in levels of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and haemoglobin levels were also key predictors of whether individuals would go on to develop severe respiratory disease. 

ALT is normally found inside liver cells, however, when your liver is damaged or inflamed, ALT can be released into your bloodstream.

High levels of ALT in a person’s blood can signal the presence of liver damage or inflammation.

And haemoglobin is a protein that transports oxygen through the blood.

In patients severely ill with coronavirus, the red blood cell production increases to make up for chronically low blood oxygen levels due to poor lung function.

The experts added that determining whether a patient is likely to get worse could help hospitals decide which cases to monitor.

"Hospitals are just so overstretched that if someone doesn’t immediately need oxygen they may not be able to find a place for them," Coffee said.

"But they might be able to say, ‘You really need to check back in tomorrow'."

Doctors could then treat a patient before their case becomes critical, lessening the burden on the NHS.

Anasse Bari, a clinical assistant professor at NYU who co-authored the study, added: "We’re not by any means trying to replace doctors’ decisions.

"We just want to arm doctors with tools to see quickly if this is a severe case and predict outcomes."

Yesterday it was revealed that coronavirus could invade the brain directly in rare circumstances, causing inflammation.

Researchers have seen patients develop acute necrotising encephalitis (ANE) - a central nervous infection.

ANE is a rare disease characterised by brain damage (encephalopathy) that usually follows a viral infection.

It’s previously been linked to infections like the flu, chickenpox and enterovirus - but now doctors believe could also be associated with the new coronavirus.