If you’re like many people these days, every sign of a sneeze, sniffle, or cough makes you instantly worried that you have the dreaded COVID-19. Common colds and influenza have been affecting us all our lives, but the pandemic has made us especially paranoid about getting sick and catching a deadly virus that results in a lengthy hospital stay or even worse.
To help you navigate these complex times while staying sane and taking care of your health, here’s how to differentiate the symptoms of COVID-19 from the regular winter flu.
Symptoms of COVID and the Flu
When you start feeling sick, it can be unsettling because of how many symptoms are shared between COVID and the flu. These shared symptoms include fever, fatigue, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, vomiting, and diarrhea. However, a big difference is that it takes longer for symptoms of COVID to appear than the flu. A person exposed to flu will usually feel symptoms within a day or two, while someone exposed to COVID often goes about five days before feeling sick.
How the Illnesses Are Spread
Both COVID-19 and the flu are virus and spread in similar ways: through particles in the air that are inhaled and cause infection. Both viruses can also be spread by direct contact with touching a surface and then touching your face. It is possible to be affected by one of these viruses and not even know you’ve come into contact with them until you spread it onto others through the air and the things you touch.
Big Differences Between COVID and the Flu
One of the biggest symptom differences between these two sicknesses is the affect on a person’s senses of smell and taste. COVID-19 commonly affects these senses while the flu typically does not. Complications from the illnesses differ too, with COVID-19 resulting in long-term damage more often than the flu. Long-term effects of COVID include organ damage to the kidneys, lungs, brain, and heart. Meanwhile, a common complication of the flu is pneumonia, along with other secondary bacterial infections.
The flu is much more common than COVID-19 and has been in the U.S for much longer too. At least a billion people around the world get the flu each year, while the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in China in late 2019 and in the U.S. in January 2020. The mortality rate from COVID-19 seems to be significantly greater than most strains of the flu; however, ongoing COVID research is still taking place to study this relatively new virus.
Protect Yourself from COVID and the Flu
Symptoms of COVID-19, the flu, and even seasonal allergies are commonly confused, and the only true way to know is to get diagnosed by a medical professional or take a COVID-19 test. Vaccines exist for both viruses as a means of protection, and you can further protect yourself from them both by wearing a mask, avoiding close contact with sick people, washing your hands often, and disinfecting high-touch surfaces.
To give your immune system the best fighting chance, we recommend drinking lots of water, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and getting ample sleep each day. Our new Olive Leaf Plus capsules are also a great way to take control of your health with maximum immune support and an all-natural approach. There are six premium immune-support ingredients in each capsule to help you avoid the types of concerning symptoms described here and put your mind at ease that you’re doing everything you can to stay healthy.