Cold, flu or COVID? UW Medicine explains when to get tested – KIRO 7 News Seattle

The rainy season is here – and with it, the cold and flu season. Confusion between symptoms is causing people to flock to COVID testing sites. UW Medicine’s virology lab shows that within their system, more than 11,600 people were tested on Wednesday, almost reaching the volumes last seen before Christmas, which peaked at around 13,200.

“A little runny nose, a little bit of stuffiness, a little bit of an itchy throat,” said Steph Giola, who said she suddenly felt these symptoms after getting rid of these inconveniences since 2019. “I have it. feel like the ambiguity around these generic symptoms has loosened a little more frightening, so to speak, because of COVID, ”she said.

She took a COVID test on Thursday at the Seattle test site run by UW Medicine in Ballard, where people lined up on the sidewalk in the morning, despite the rain.

Cold medicine sections at several Seattle drugstores also appeared empty Thursday.

“There’s always something going on, especially at this time of year. That’s why we call it cold and flu season, ”said Dr. Paul Pottinger of the Department of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at UW Medicine. “Why? Because people are spending more time indoors. Children are going back to school,” he said.

Pottinger says it’s impossible to tell if you have a cold, the flu, or COVID-19 from symptoms alone.

“There is a broad spectrum (of symptoms). Some people – in fact, most – will have fairly mild illness, but they still pose a threat to others, ”Pottinger said.

That’s why he says it’s important to get tested any time you show signs of respiratory illness, even if you are vaccinated.

It may be a sore throat, runny nose, taste and smell disturbances, fever, muscle pain, fatigue. Anything that goes in that direction – very serious or even slight – I want that person to be tested, ”Pottinger said. For example, he said that a person vaccinated for a mild sore throat should still get tested.

Pottinger says that while this wave of new cases appears to be slowing, hospitals are still on the verge of being overwhelmed. That’s why he says knowing what you have during cold and flu season is essential.

“The only thing worse than COVID is hurting someone else with your COVID. Let’s stop this cycle. Get everyone vaccinated, get tested if you’re sick and break the cycle, ”Pottinger said.

A few other points that Pottinger noted:

• COVID can present without fever.
• A lab test result will never confuse the flu with the COVID virus.
• You can receive the COVID booster vaccine or a COVID regular cycle vaccine at the same time as a flu shot.
• Anyone who was in an unmasked situation within six feet for 15 minutes or more with someone who tested positive for COVID should immediately take a COVID test, quarantine themselves for a few days, and then get tested again – even if you are vaccinated.

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