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- Many health officials expect flu and cold cases to increase this fall and winter as COVID-19 safety protocols are relaxed.
- Experts note that many symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 are similar, including fever and body aches. However, breathing difficulties are more common with COVID-19.
- Health officials say if you’re not feeling well you need to self-isolate, hydrate, and get tested.
Do you remember the flu?
Cases of seasonal flu were rare last winter, and experts attribute the physical and social distancing linked to COVID-19 and wearing masks for keeping rates low.
With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, however, the flu is expected to make a comeback.
It might make it harder to tell if that irritating cough, congestion, or fever is just a cold, the flu, or something worse.
“The droplets spread viruses like the flu, COVID-19 or things like RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) through the air,” Dr. Phil Mitchell, emergency physician and chief medical officer of DispatchHealth, told Healthline. “The measures we have taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 with masks, social distancing, good hand hygiene are universal prevention for all respiratory viruses. Because we’ve practiced unprecedented levels of protection, resulting in almost no flu, some health experts believe we lack natural immunity and the flu could return this fall with a vengeance. “
During the 2019-2020 influenza season, it is estimated
Between September 27, 2020 and April 24, 2021 – a period that included the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic – only 2,038 influenza cases were reported to the CDC.
But some research suggests illnesses like the flu are set to return in 2021-2022.
For example, the CDC recently reported that cases of RSV, which declined sharply after April 2020, are on the rise again in the southern United States, where COVID-19 precautions have been largely lifted.
RSV is the most common cause of bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and is particularly dangerous in young children and the elderly.
“After a worldwide drop in influenza cases and the lowest rate on record in the United States during the pandemic, we should all expect to see more flu over the coming fall and winter,” said Dr David Cutler, family physician at Providence Saint. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., Told Healthline. “So it will be very important that everyone gets the flu shot. And since there was so little flu last year, we really don’t know the impact COVID and the flu could have together. So it remains extremely important that as many people as possible are also immune to COVID. “
RSV causes flu-like symptoms, and many flu symptoms are also similar to those caused by COVID-19 infections, including fever, cough, body aches, sore throat, fatigue, and congestion .
The delta variant of COVID-19 may have symptoms that are even more commonly associated with the flu or the common cold, including headaches, sore throats, and a runny nose – which were not typical in people with previous illnesses. strains of the novel coronavirus.
Symptoms that seem fairly unique to COVID-19 are difficulty breathing and loss of taste or smell, although not all people who develop COVID-19 experience these symptoms.
Fever is rarely a symptom of the common cold, but it is common in people with COVID-19, the flu, and RSV.
“The symptoms of the flu and COVID are almost identical, which is why testing is essential. That’s the only way to find out, ”said Mitchell, whose company offers home testing for COVID-19, flu and other illnesses. “It is possible to have both COVID-19 and the flu. “
“My advice, if you start to feel exhausted and not well [you should] isolate, hydrate and get tested, ”he added.
Typical
- fever or chills
- cough
- shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- tired
- muscle or body pain
- headache
- loss of taste or smell
- sore throat
- congestion or runny nose
- nausea or vomiting
- diarrhea
Typical
- fever or feeling feverish / chills
- cough
- sore throat
- runny or stuffy nose
- muscle or body pain
- headache
- tired
- vomiting and diarrhea (more common in children than in adults)
Typical symptoms of
- sore throat
- runny nose
- cough
- sneeze
- headache
- stiffness
Typical
- runny nose
- decreased appetite
- cough
- sneeze
- fever
- wheezing
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