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| The coronavirus |
By Park Si-soo
Fever and a dry cough are said to be among the common symptoms people infected with coronavirus experience.
But here is a case defying the norm.
Park Soon-ok, 83, who recently defeated the viral disease, said she had had neither fever nor cough. Instead, she suffered an "extreme headache" whose severity was like "being struck on the head with a hammer."
Park put herself into a self-isolation on Feb. 19 after she was told that a churchgoer she had contact with contracted the virus. She felt nothing wrong at the beginning but symptoms emerged on the last day of the 14-day isolation, which was March 4.
"Extreme headache struck me," Park recalled. "It felt like being hit on the head with a hammer." She later learned the headache was the result of a coronavirus-driven rise in her blood pressure.
"The pain continued even after taking a headache pill," she said. After testing positive for coronavirus, she was taken to Busan Medical Center where she spent two weeks combating the virus.
The "hammer-struck" headache continued at the hospital but there were no typical symptoms of coronavirus infection, she said
"The pain was relieved after taking a headache pill but it returned shortly after," she said. Throughout the treatment, Park said, she felt tired and lethargic and had no appetite.
After recovering fully, she now has no headache.
"Don't let your guard down believing you won't be infected," Park said. "Everybody can be infected. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all the people who treated me."
