COVID-19 Symptoms Remain Largely Unchanged, CDC Reaffirms on August 25, 2025

Washington, D.C., August 25, 2025 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today reaffirmed that the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in 2025 continues to mirror previous Omicron-era strains, with no novel symptoms definitively linked to newly circulating variants.

According to the CDC’s updated guidance, the most common manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection remain:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• New loss of taste or smell
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

The agency emphasized that while anecdotal reports occasionally surface-most recently social-media accounts mentioning hoarseness or “razor-blade” throat-robust surveillance has found no consistent pattern of unique symptoms associated with the latest XEC (Stratus) or LP.8.1 (Nimbus) variants.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director, stated: “Background immunity from vaccination and past infection continues to blunt symptom severity, and at this time our data show that the spectrum of illness has not expanded beyond the well-characterized respiratory and gastrointestinal signs we track.”

Health officials continue to recommend vaccination boosters every 6-12 months for high-risk populations, prompt testing at symptom onset, and early antiviral treatment where indicated to reduce the risk of hospitalization and long COVID.