Table 2. Clinical characteristics of the patients.
| Characteristic | BF.7.14 infection | BA.5.2.48 infection | Statistic | P value |
| Abbreviation: M=median; IQR=interquartile range. * χ2 test. † χ2 test with contingency correction. § Fisher exact test. ¶ Mann-Whitney U test. | ||||
| Symptoms (n, %) | ||||
| Fever | 12.273* | 0.007 | ||
| No fever (<37.3 °C) | 111 (35.0) | 25 (27.8) | ||
| Low-grade fever (37.3 °C–38.0 °C) | 68 (21.5) | 14 (15.6) | ||
| Middle-grade fever (38.1 °C–39.0 °C) | 96 (30.3) | 31 (34.4) | ||
| High fever (≥39.1 °C) | 42 (13.2) | 20 (22.2) | ||
| Cough | 128 (52.9) | 46 (47.4) | 0.829* | 0.362 |
| Swallowing difficulty | 95 (39.6) | 28 (28.9) | 3.423* | 0.064 |
| Fatigue or muscle weakness | 70 (29.2) | 23 (23.7) | 1.029* | 0.310 |
| Muscle pain | 58 (24.2) | 18 (18.6) | 1.245* | 0.265 |
| Difficulty in movement | 40 (19.8) | 16 (19.0) | 0.021* | 0.884 |
| Headache | 39 (16.3) | 13 (13.4) | 0.448* | 0.503 |
| Taste or smell disorder | 38 (15.9) | 11 (11.3) | 1.151* | 0.283 |
| Sleep disorder | 39 (16.3) | 10 (10.3) | 1.962* | 0.161 |
| Joint pain | 30 (12.6) | 11 (11.3) | 0.095* | 0.758 |
| Vomiting or diarrhea | 23 (9.6) | 10 (10.3) | 0.041* | 0.839 |
| Breathing difficulties | 31 (12.9) | 6 (6.2) | 3.202* | 0.074 |
| Cognitive impairment | 20 (8.3) | 9 (9.3) | 0.078* | 0.779 |
| Dizziness | 17 (7.1) | 6 (6.2) | 0.093* | 0.760 |
| Personality change | 22 (9.2) | 3 (3.1) | 3.711* | 0.054 |
| Chest pain | 14 (5.8) | 4 (4.1) | 0.399* | 0.527 |
| Hair loss | 7 (2.9) | 1 (1.0) | 0.402† | 0.526 |
| Conjunctivitis | 4 (1.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0.524† | 0.469 |
| Skin rash | 3 (1.3) | 0 (0.0) | –§ | 0.560 |
| Number of symptoms | 2.839* | 0.242 | ||
| None | 40 (16.5) | 13 (13.4) | ||
| 1–3 symptoms | 98 (40.5) | 49 (50.5) | ||
| ≥4 symptoms | 104 (43.0) | 35 (36.1) | ||
| Length of illness [day, (M, IQR)] | 10.0 (5.0–18.5) | 7.5 (3.0–26.8) | 8656.000¶ | 0.619 |