The Silent Symptom of COVID-19

Cough, shortness of breath and fever are all several potential symptoms associated with COVID-19, but what about low oxygen levels?

Yahoo! Life reports that health care providers have noticed a phenomenon referred to as “happy hypoxia” or “silent hypoxia” — when patients have such low oxygen levels that their body’s tissues don’t recognize the danger they’re in.

Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician and associate professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, explains why this symptom may appear in patients with COVID-19.

“One theory is that the hypoxia is due to clots in the small blood vessels in the lungs, which impedes oxygen exchange,” says Dr. Watkins.

Read more on “happy hypoxia” and “silent hypoxia” in Yahoo! Life.