At the timing of this video COVID-19 has claimed about 820 000 lives
worldwide and here in the us over 180 000 people
have passed away. Flu season is approaching us in the next
couple weeks so how can we tell the difference
between COVID-19 vs flu vs common cold. Coming up!
So let's look at incubation time. The incubation time with COVID- 19
is anywhere from 1 to 14 days. Typically a person develops symptoms
four to five days after being infected but symptoms can appear as early as two
days after an infection or as late as 14 days after an infection
The incubation time for the flu is shorter
and typically a person develops symptoms anywhere from one to four to four days
after infection. So what about the common cold? Usually it
takes one to three days for a person to develop symptoms. So that does not
really help very much except that we learned that
COVID-19 has a very long incubation time! So let's look at
symptoms and symptoms onset. In COVID-1919 the symptoms can develop
gradually but with some people especially older
adults there's an abrupt onset of symptoms;
whereas the onset of symptoms for the flu are typically
sudden and abrupt. The common cold presents differently
and the symptoms have a gradual and slow onset. So what about fever? Fever
is rare with the common cold Both COVID- 19 and the flu typically
present with fever. In a study looking at the classic symptoms of COVID- 19
fever was reported by more than 78% of patients. The study examined more than
24 000 patients across various countries. Although
it must be said an older adult can present with atypical symptoms
and have no fever at all! Click on this link above
examining atypical symptom presentation in
older adults. So what about cough? Once again, both COVID- 19 and the flu
can present with a cough and in that study I mentioned earlier
57 percent presented with a cough. Similarly in a report of more than 370
000 confirmed COVID-19 cases with known
symptom status reported to the CDC in the United States
Cough was reported 50% of the time. Mind you the cough with COVID-19 as
well as with the flu is typically dry.It is interesting
that in that study approximately one in five test
positive patients were never febrile and fewer than three
in five developed a cough.Study authors do point out that
some of the patients they were looking at were likely to have
moderate to severe disease warranting hospitalization and thus testing, so they
surmised that we might be even overestimating the true prevalence
of symptoms in the population as there might be
people who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
The cough in a patient with the common cold
is usually mild and can be hacking. Both covered 19 and the flu especially
when symptomatic the cough is described as quite severe.
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So what about the symptom shortness of breath? This symptom is seen with
symptomatic Covid 19 patients and sometimes seen
with the flu. This is a rare symptom for the common
cold. Interestingly, shortness of breath made
up only 23 percent of presenting symptoms
in the study I mentioned earlier looking at a spectrum of patients over various
countries. Just as interesting in the report to the CDC
Shortness of breath was also only present in 29 of the patients.
So how do we explain differences to previously published studies
with higher percentages for shortness of breath. This is probably
because previous studies and reports had more likely had a higher proportion of
adults with more severe disease whereas more
recent studies included adults with mild symptoms.
due to the wider availability of testing. The study published in June of 2020
did conclude fever and cough are the most prevalent
symptoms of adults infected by the SARS virus
corona virus 2. And if you're interested to see the difference
between droplet infection and airborne infection
click on the link above. So what about fatigue?
I'm not talking about the feeling when your wife asks you to get a cup of water
for her and you're too tired because you had a hard day.Once again
COVID- 19 and the flu share a common symptom
and the feeling of feeling tired and fatigued
is common. In fact the feeling of extreme exhaustion is early and prominent with
the flu. Fatigue is also sometimes present with
the common cold. What about these list of symptoms? Runny
nose nasal congestion, sneezing. So here the cold
does differentiate itself from both COVID-19 and the flu.
Having a runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion
are common with the cold. It's less common
with the flu and less common with COVID- 19
and these symptoms are only seen sometimes. I might add
that a sore throat is also more common with the cold
especially if postnasal drip is involved. This once again is only seen sometimes
with both COVID-19 and the flu. Ahh, what about
GI symptoms. GI symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea are once again rare with
the common cold whereas it can be present for both
COVID- 19 and flu patients. The report to the
CDC found that 19% had diarrhea and 12% had nausea and
vomiting. In that report 370 000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were looked
at. Of note the GI symptoms are more common
in children than adults with symptoms of the flu.So what about body aches?
When i'm talking about body aches the entire
body is painful which makes it painful to get up
and move and move along. Body aches are only slight and rare
for the cold but quite prominent for the flu! Body aches are also known as
myalgias and is present sometimes for COVID-
19. So what about headaches? Headache another common symptom
with the flu and it features only sometimes
with COVID- 19 and it's a rare symptom with a COLD. In that report to the CDC
around 370 000 COVID- 19 confirmed patients 34%
had a headache. Compare the complications between the flu
COVID-19 as well as the common cold: And per CDC website the complications
for both the flu and covert 19 include pneumonia respiratory failure
acute respiratory distress syndrome with fluid
in the lungs, sepsis, a cardiac injury which can lead
to heart attacks and arrhythmias, multi-organ failure including kidney
failure, respiratory failure and shock. A worsening of chronic medical
conditions such as COPD, coronary artery disease.
diseases of the nervous system and diabetes
and inflammation of the heart, brain and muscle tissues
and a secondary bacterial infection. So these are bacterial infections on top of
the COVID- 19 infection or the flu. There are additional complications
associated with COVID-19 and these can include blood
clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs or brain and
this can lead to a stroke or heart attack ; and in children you see
a multi-system inflammatory syndrome. These things are
not seen with the common cold. Depending on the viral strain a cold can
last up to two weeks. Colds are milder upper
respiratory illness with a runny, stuffy nose usually
without a fever. Having said that your healthcare provider your primary care
doctor might have difficulty distinguishing
COVID- 19 from the flu or for that matter even a
very severe cold. Your doctor will order a test a PCR test
to test for COVID-19. He or she can also order
a rapid flu test to test for the flu.You might ask yourself can i get the flu in
COVID- 19 at the same time or in the same season
Yes of course both of them are caused by two
different viruses, one is COVID- 19 corona virus
and the other can be caused by a host of influenza strains.
So stay safe and healthy! The question of the day?
When your nose is runny and you feel congested, is your first thought oh my
god I have COVID-19! Leave your answers
in the comments below. And if you want to see other videos
you can click right here or click right here click right here
or click right here have a good day and think your health. A Bonus symptom:
Symptom of COVID- 19 is loss of taste, well according to my wardrobe I
have had it for a couple of years. Finally done!!!
What the heck! Try again Try again