Some Omicron patients hit by night sweats; no such cases seen locally

As the number of individuals infected with Omicron continues to rise worldwide, some are reporting a unique symptom associated with the Covid-19 variant - night sweats.

According to the Mayo Clinic, night sweats are repeated episodes of extreme perspiration that may soak your clothes or bedding.

They are commonly associated with conditions such as anxiety disorders, thyroid disease or cancer.

While Omicron patients in South Africa and Britain have complained of night sweats, this has yet to be reported among local cases.

Dr Choy Chiaw Yee, consultant at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, said night sweats remain a rare symptom of the Omicron variant.

She said that based on early observation, individuals with the Omicron variant experience flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, cough, general body pains and fatigue.

"Individuals with the Delta variant experience symptoms such as fever, loss of smell or taste, cough, shortness of breath and diarrhoea," she added.

Dr Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, noted that night sweats were hardly reported with previous variants of the virus and that this is an uncommon symptom among those infected with Omicron.

"In general, most infected persons will have mild cold or flu-like symptoms. Vaccinated persons in particular will be either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.

"The Omicron variant is more transmissible and has a shorter incubation period, but thankfully, it is a less virulent variant, even for unvaccinated individuals," he said.