Nov. 22, 2023 – Winter is sort of right here, and with it might come runny noses, coughing, and congestion. However how have you learnt when you’ve got only a frequent chilly or one of many three respiratory viruses that make up the “tripledemic” – RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), COVID-19, and influenza?
Based mostly on signs alone, it’s tough to inform which sickness you might need. However there are clues that may level you in the proper path: how extreme your signs are, how lengthy it took for signs to set in, what viruses are circulating in your group, and extra.
We requested specialists to interrupt it down for us.
How Viruses Set Themselves Aside – or Don’t
These days, COVID – particularly for individuals who have acquired the latest vaccine – can manifest very like a typical chilly, so it’s necessary to maintain at-home checks readily available.
“Being vaccinated does hold [these viruses] from hanging the chest,” mentioned Panagis Galiatsatos, MD, a pulmonary and significant care physician at Johns Hopkins. “Vaccinated sufferers might get a gentle cough, however lots of their signs keep extra as an higher respiratory situation, like nasal congestion – like a nasty chilly.”
One of many distinctive signs of COVID, notably within the earlier variations of the virus, was the loss of taste and smell. Whereas this nonetheless occurs in some circumstances, this symptom isn’t as frequent anymore, mentioned Galiatsatos. Most of the time, sufferers who’ve been vaccinated will report lack of scent or style because of higher respiratory congestion, whereas prior to now “it was extra of a neurological invasion of the virus,” he mentioned.
That’s modified as a result of so many people now have the antibodies that shield us from the extra extreme penalties of COVID, from both having recovered from a earlier an infection, getting immunized, or a mix of the 2.
Not like RSV, chilly, and flu, COVID might also deliver on some gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Whereas GI points are a extra unusual symptom, it may be an indication that you need to get examined for COVID.
RSV in wholesome people who find themselves not kids or over the age of 65 may seem like a chilly or a gentle case of COVID. However for youngsters and seniors, a telltale signal of a possible RSV an infection is when a affected person is wheezing or they’re having bronchial asthma flares, mentioned Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious illness professional on the College of California, San Francisco.
What the Timing of Signs Can Inform Us
Widespread chilly signs have a tendency to return on pretty rapidly, defined Chin-Hong. Should you get RSV, then again, it might take 4 to six days earlier than signs present. Flu viruses are a very totally different story.
“The particular attribute of flus is the abrupt onset of signs,” Chin-Hong mentioned. “You is perhaps minding your personal enterprise, feeling OK, after which the entire sudden you get in your automobile and you are feeling such as you’ve been hit by a dump truck.”
COVID additionally has some distinctive symptomatic options. It’s possible you’ll not have signs in any respect, otherwise you might need gentle, cold-like signs for per week earlier than the signs worsen and the an infection turns into extra severe.
“COVID has this biphasic sample, whereas colds and RSV don’t – it’s when you find yourself sort of doing OK, and then you definitely fall off a cliff,” mentioned Chin-Hong. “That’s why early remedy with Paxlovid or remdesivir is so necessary as a result of it might stop that second section from taking place.”
Testing Is Your Finest Guess
For Galiatsatos, getting examined for COVID must be your first intuition – and getting two unfavorable checks inside a 24-hour interval ought to encourage you to hunt out a flu check at an area well being care facility should you’re capable of. Staying on high of testing can get you entry to the proper antivirals, like Tamiflu, which may shorten symptoms by a day or extra. And if you come down with the flu, these couple of days could make a world of distinction.
Simply assuming you’ve got COVID and never testing could possibly be a mistake, particularly if you find yourself having long-lasting respiratory signs of the virus.
“One of many issues that broke my coronary heart was so many sufferers who’ve come into my clinic with signs of lengthy COVID, however they by no means received examined. I can’t check their antibodies anymore as a result of these antibodies could possibly be from an older an infection or vaccine,” mentioned Galiatsatos. “It’s onerous to get insurance coverage firms to pay for lengthy COVID checks if there wasn’t a constructive COVID check to start with.”
