8/24/2023 0 Comments Im constantly sickThe symptoms of COVID-19 are a lot more similar to the flu because of the level of severity you can see with these viral illnesses. With a cold, you may also have a cough and tiredness, but not usually diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or a loss of taste and smell unless you have severe nasal congestion. For example, with COVID-19, you may have a dry cough, as well as tiredness, a sore throat, loss of taste or smell, a fever, or sometimes diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. There are a lot of similarities between the three illnesses, but there are some things to keep in mind that may be different between COVID-19, the common cold, and the flu. We would tell patients, “If you have a fever, and if you have a loss of taste and smell, then it’s almost definitely going to be a COVID-19 infection.” However, now that we have vaccines, booster doses, and individuals who’ve already had a COVID-19 infection, we have individuals who have either no symptoms or very mild symptoms that almost replicate the symptoms you would have with a cold or even a minor flu. Almost all of our patients had a fever, many of them experienced a loss of taste and smell, and some progressed to severe respiratory compromise. Early on in the pandemic, with the original strains and the lack of a vaccine, the symptoms present in many people with COVID-19 were pretty severe. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to quickly tell the difference between these conditions at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]() ![]() Knight: COVID-19, the common cold, and the flu are all upper respiratory infections caused by viruses. What’s the difference between COVID-19, the flu, and the common cold? It’s a new medical mystery, one facing everyone out and about during winter months: If you’re feeling under the weather, how can you tell if you have COVID-19, the flu, or a cold? Michael Knight, MD, MSHP, assistant professor of medicine, associate chief quality and population health officer, and patient safety officer at the George Washington University (GW) Medical Faculty Associates (MFA), explains the symptoms of each disease, what steps you can take to figure out which illness you may have, and how you can treat it.
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