Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by Jawad Ali
If you’ve been coughing a lot, you might just be coming down with something. Though everybody sort of understands what the beginning stages of life with a virus looks like, the word ‘something’ is a sticking point. Because colds, cases of the flu and Covid-19 exhibit a similar array of symptoms, it can be difficult to determine which is inside of you.
Differences in Onset and Severity
Symptoms of Covid-19 generally appear between two and fourteen days after exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Flu symptoms normally appear between one and four days after exposure to the influenza virus. Covid is capable of leading to more serious illnesses in some people than the flu. While early in the pandemic, scientists estimated that Covid was 10 times more lethal than the flu.
Differences in Fever Temperatures
When it comes to fever temperatures, generally anything higher than 98.6 degrees is indicative of some kind of virus. It’s pretty rare to run a temperature when you have a cold and more common with the flu and Covid-19. The common fever temperature associated with Covid is 100 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, while the common fever temperature associated with the flu is generally between 100-102 degrees Fahrenheit. While Covid symptoms can last for weeks, months or even longer, the fever temperatures associated with the flu generally abate in three or four days.
Differences in Headaches
Headaches are more associated with the flu than Covid, though they do occur sometimes. One in every four people will develop a Covid headache, which lasts from one to two weeks. The flu brings headaches with significant intensity.
Sinus headaches are common with the flu. This happens when swelling and mucus accumulates in the sinus cavities, potentially causing deep and lasting pain in the cheekbones, forehead or the bridge of the nose.
Differences in Other Symptoms
Coughing is a common symptom of Covid-19 and the flu. It is partly a question of dry cough vs wet cough. While the Covid cough is usually dry, the flu cough has much more mucus and can become severe.
Extreme exhaustion has been associated with both maladies, with accompanying body aches. Both usually bring a sore throat and stuffy or runny nose and both can bring shortness of breath and lead to difficulty breathing.
While both Covid and the flu can include diarrhea and vomiting, with the flu, these symptoms are more common in children. Covid can also lead to a temporary, though potentially long-lasting, loss of taste and smell. Such symptoms are extremely rare with the flu.
You just can’t readily tell the difference between the flu and Covid-19 without specific testing. Because they both exhibit such similar symptoms, it leaves many people wondering fretfully, until they employ a home rapid test or find some other way of testing for Covid. Knowing that the best cold and flu medicine for adults won’t have an effect on Covid, a positive result demands other forms of treatment. Visit an online health and wellness store today to see what kinds of remedies exist for your next battle against a cold, the flu or Covid-19.
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