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Fall and winter cause more cases of colds and seasonal flu, and the symptoms can be difficult to tell apart as they can lead to a cough, but each has its own characteristics.
A study conducted in August at the University of Southern California identified a distinct order of symptoms in “Covid-19” patients: Most patients with symptoms start with a fever, followed by a cough. And with seasonal flu, it’s usually the opposite – people usually have a cough before a fever.
And if you do catch a cold, you’ll likely start with a sore throat as your first symptom, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Many patients with Covid-19 never have a fever and some patients with the flu never have a cough. For this reason, it is also helpful to think about how quickly the symptoms will appear and for how long.
How do Covid-19, flu, colds and allergies appear and develop?
Coronavirus cases tend to develop more gradually than the flu. While some people start showing symptoms of “Covid-19” within two days of infection, symptoms of the disease can take up to two weeks to appear. On average, people start to feel sick five days after infection.
In contrast, people with the flu usually feel sick one to four days after exposure. Most patients then make a full recovery within two weeks, often within days.
Many coronavirus patients also recover within two weeks, but an increasing proportion of patients have reported symptoms that have lasted for months.
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In contrast, cold symptoms usually peak within two to three days of infection – but, like coronavirus, they often appear gradually. Some cold symptoms last longer than others: Patients with a typical cold may have a sore throat for eight days, a headache for nine to 10 days, and a congestion and runny nose or cough for more than two weeks.
The allergy tends to last longer – about two to three weeks for each allergen – and will not go away until the allergen is in the air. Seasonal allergies also tend to be more severe in the spring.
Coronavirus cases vary from asymptomatic to mild to severe.
“I’ve never seen an infection with this wide array of appearances,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in July.
Several patients have reported cases that don’t appear on the CDC’s official list, including hair loss, hiccups, purple rashes, and swollen toes.
Large proportion of Covid-19 patients lose their sense of taste or smell – perhaps the strongest indicator of coronavirus infection, according to a study conducted in June by scientists of Massachusetts General Hospital and King’s College London.
Likewise, a Spanish case study found that nearly 40% of patients with Covid-19 developed odor and / or taste disturbances, compared to just 12% of patients with the flu.
Symptoms such as fever or headache can also help rule out allergies or colds. Meanwhile, people with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose than Covid-19 patients. Cold symptoms are usually milder.
One of the hallmarks of allergy – itchy eyes – is not related to any of the other three diseases.
Ultimately, the best way to know if you have COVID-19 is to get a diagnostic test. For results to appear negative, people should stay home if they feel sick or have been exposed to someone infected with the virus.
Source: ScienceAlert
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