Womenz Magazine

Coronavirus symptoms: How to tell the difference between Covid-19, common cold and flu

As you know severe cold weather has come across, many people are worried about how they actually differentiate between the common cold, flu and Corona virus.

It is true some symptoms are similar with all three conditions and difficult to know, are you suffering from Cov-19 or Common cold, according to Mirror.

Let’s take a look into the picture that shows you how you can easily identify it.

According to Ben Littlewood-Hilson, chief medical officer at Doctorlink having a runny nose is a big sign that what you have is a cold.And whereas Covid-19 has more specific symptoms, the flu usually affects the whole body.

Dr Ravi Tomar added: “The challenge with these upper respiratory infections is that they can all present with symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, aches and pain.

“However the predominating symptoms can help to differentiate between each.

“With a common cold less of the body is affected with symptoms focused on the mouth and nose; with the flu – you would expect the body as a whole to mainly be affected; with Covid, the persistent fever, dry cough and specific features like the loss in taste or smell can suggest this may be the cause.”

The NHS says the main symptoms of coronavirus are:

A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms.

The NHS says flu symptoms can include:

a sudden fever – a temperature of 38C or above

an aching body

feeling tired or exhausted

a dry cough

a sore throat

a headache

difficulty sleeping

loss of appetite

diarrhoea or tummy pain

feeling sick and being sick

The NHS says cold symptoms come on gradually and can include:

a blocked or runny nose

a sore throat

headaches

muscle aches

coughs

sneezing

a raised temperature

pressure in your ears and face

loss of taste and smell

Doctors have stressed that if you are not sure you should seek medical advice.

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