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The coronavirus is not easy to recognize by its symptoms. In acute infection, we are most often accompanied by fever and cough, but such ailments can also be a signal that we have the flu. Dr. Greg Poland told CNN about what to look for in order not to confuse flu or allergies with coronavirus.
Coronavirus has been the number one topic for many weeks. In this situation, the tickling of the throat and increased temperature are increasingly becoming a source of increased anxiety. There are thousands of people with ailments indicating various types of infections because the coronavirus epidemic continues alongside the flu season, and in a moment it will also cover the most difficult season for allergy sufferers.
The early symptoms of allergies, colds, flu, and COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus can be similar. In some cases, the infection turns out to be so mild that it does not cause any discomfort, and for some it passes unnoticed.
How can you tell if it’s not a virus but an allergy?
The risk of coronavirus infection should not be underestimated, but it must be realized that the probability of a disease caused by a new pathogen is still low. The moods of those who immediately assume a black scenario are calmed down in an interview with CNN by Dr. Greg Poland, who studies immunology, i.e. the body’s immune-defense reaction.
Reminds how can you distinguish an allergic reaction from a viral infection. Allergy symptoms are most often associated with rhinitis. These include sneezing, runny nose and headache, which is caused by allergic sinusitis. Itching, burning and watery eyes also appear.
The situation is different in the case of viral infections. Both the flu and the coronavirus infection have systemic symptomswhich means the symptoms of the infection are visible throughout the body. There are ailments both in the respiratory tract and in other systems. You may experience sore throat, muscle aches, cough, fever, breathing difficulties. Allergy is unlikely to cause either elevated temperature or shortness of breath, unless it is associated with asthma.
Symptoms of allergies appear regularly – at about the same time every year. Although they can be really bothersome, they are usually gentle in nature. They may include feeling tired, but not severe muscle or joint pain. They disappear after taking antiallergic drugs.
Also read: ABC of allergies. What can testify to it?
– If you have an acute case of coronavirus or flu, you will feel so tired, so sore that you will just go to bed – says Dr. Greg Poland.
For both infections the main complaints, apart from fatigue and muscle aches, are fever and cough. Over time, flu symptoms and coronavirus infections can worsen, especially in people who are chronically ill and over the age of 60. Whether your ailments are due to the flu or the coronavirus, if they worsen, it’s a sure sign that you should seek medical attention.
If you do not know what the cause of your problems may be, you should consider consulting a doctor. An e-visit to a family doctor on the haloDoctor.pl website is a simple way to meet your doctor quickly and without leaving your home and get answers to all your questions.
In the early stages of research into the coronavirus, it was found that it did not cause rhinitis. Now, however, it is known that in some infected, apart from typical ailments, such as coughing, fever and shortness of breath, there is a runny nose. However, it is still not a symptom associated with COVID-19 disease.
Doubts as to whether we are dealing with the flu or the coronavirus are only dispelled by laboratory tests. However, you have to be aware of the fact that in the current epidemiological situation coronavirus infection usually follows a similar scenarioTherefore, each doctor when suspecting COVID-19 disease will ask similar contextual questions:
- Have you traveled recently and if so, where?
- Have you had contact (at home, work, school) with someone who has traveled? If so, where has this person been?
- Have you been in contact with someone who lives in an area where the epidemic is concentrated, or you live alone in an area with COVID-19 disease?
- Have you been on a cruise ship?
Dr. Greg Poland emphasizes that now the race for diagnosis begins. Both doctors and patients must turn on critical thinking, because numerous limitations, e.g. related to the availability of tests, do not allow to test everyone who wants to make sure they do not have the coronavirus, even if the interview does not show that the probability is high.
Flu should be the first lead
The epidemic of the new virus makes us forget how big the flu is and how many people go through it every year. According to the latest report of the National Institute of Public Health – PZH in Poland only in the first week of March there were over 200. illness and suspicion of influenza. Seven people died due to the severe course of the disease. Therefore, diagnosis for influenza is carried out in the first place.
The editorial board recommends:
- How does the coronavirus attack the body? The scientists answer
- Beware of counterfeit COVID-19 drugs. It is a threat to health and life
- Seniors and the coronavirus. Important questions for the geriatrician
Have a question about the coronavirus? Send them to the following address: [email protected]. You will find a daily updated list of answers HERE: Coronavirus – frequently asked questions and answers.
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