How to distinguish COVID-19 from influenza?
How to distinguish COVID-19 from influenza?
How to distinguish COVID-19 from influenza? There are many similarities between the early symptoms of COVID-19 pneumonia and influenza. This article will provide some knowledge to distinguish COVID-19 from influenza.
What is the difference between symptoms of COVID-19 pneumonia and flu symptoms
The main symptoms of influenza include fever, headache, myalgia and general malaise. The body temperature can reach 39~40℃. There may be chills and chills. It is often accompanied by systemic symptoms such as systemic muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, and sore throat. Dry cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, post-sternal discomfort, etc. Facial flushing, conjunctival hyperemia. Some are characterized by vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, and are common in children infected with influenza B. The course of the disease is self-limiting in uncomplicated patients, more than 3 to 4 days after the onset of the disease, the body temperature returns to normal and the systemic symptoms improve, but it usually takes 1 to 2 weeks for cough and physical recovery.
Pneumonia is the most common complication of influenza. Other complications include nervous system damage, heart damage, myositis, rhabdomyolysis syndrome, and septic shock.
According to the existing case data, the new coronavirus pneumonia is mainly manifested by fever, dry cough, fatigue, etc. A few patients are accompanied by nasal congestion, runny nose, diarrhea and other upper respiratory and digestive tract symptoms. Severe cases often have difficulty breathing after 1 week, and severe cases rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, difficult to correct metabolic acidosis, coagulation dysfunction, and multiple organ failure. It is worth noting that severe and critically ill patients may have moderate to low fever during the course of their illness, or even no obvious fever. Mild patients showed only low fever, mild fatigue, etc., without pneumonia. Judging from the status of the currently admitted cases, most patients have a good prognosis and a few patients are in critical condition. The prognosis of the elderly and those with chronic underlying diseases is poor. Symptoms in children are relatively mild.
I have respiratory symptoms, how can I tell if I am infected with COVID-19 pneumonia?
Based on the current epidemiological investigation, the incubation period is 1-14 days, mostly 3-7 days. The main symptoms are fever, fatigue, and dry cough. A small number of patients have occlusion, runny nose, sore throat, myalgia and diarrhea. Severe patients often develop dyspnea or hypoxemia one week after the onset of illness, and severe patients rapidly progress to acute respiratory failure (acute respiratory distress syndrome), sepsis, and multiple organ failure. It is worth noting that some patients have mild onset symptoms, no fever or pneumonia. Most patients have mild to moderate disease. The prognosis is good, and a small number of patients are critically ill and even die.
If there are early clinical manifestations, such as fever, fatigue, and dry cough, it does not mean that you have been infected. However, if you have fever (underarm temperature ≥37.3C), cough, shortness of breath and other acute respiratory infection symptoms, and you have traveled or lived in Wuhan, or have been in contact with patients with fever and respiratory symptoms from Wuhan within 14 days before the onset, or If a small cluster of disease occurs, you should go to the local designated medical institution for investigation, diagnosis and treatment.
I have a fever, how should I see a doctor?
During the epidemic, if fever occurs, it should be reported to the village (neighborhood) committee or medical and health institution in a timely manner, and relevant investigations, diagnosis and treatment should be carried out. During the consultation period, you should wear a medical surgical mask or N95 mask throughout the whole process and go to the fever clinic. When seeking medical treatment, you should truthfully tell the truth about your illness and previous medical treatment, especially your doctor’s recent travel and residence history, history of contact with patients with COVID-19 pneumonia or asymptomatic infection, and history of animal contact.
If a suspected case of novel coronavirus pneumonia is diagnosed, he will be admitted to the hospital for isolation and treatment. At the same time, throat swabs, sputum and other samples were collected for new coronavirus testing, and blood samples were taken for serum new coronavirus-specific antibody testing. If any test result is positive, it is diagnosed as a confirmed case of COVID-19 pneumonia.
Who are susceptible to COVID-19 pneumonia?
1, the elderly
Pay attention to the current “age distribution of people infected with the new coronavirus”. The “aged population” accounts for the largest proportion, and the prevalence and mortality of elderly patients belong to the “largest share of the age distribution”. Relatively speaking, the physical capabilities of the elderly are in a declining stage, and their organ capabilities and immune capabilities are lower than those of young people, so they are more likely to be “beaten by the new coronavirus” and the risk of illness will naturally be higher.
2. Crowd in “highly crowded places”
For the “new coronavirus”, the method of transmission is more “droplet” infection. Therefore, the risk of contracting the “new coronavirus” will naturally be higher in places with many people. In real life, many people are “unwilling to be lonely” and are always used to staying and playing in crowded places. Some people may also be due to special reasons for work. However, it is more likely to happen in closed, unsmooth air and densely crowded places. In the case of “virus infection”, if there are more people, there will be more viruses; if the space is small, there will be more viruses in the unit space, so the risk of infection will naturally increase.
3. People who have “some underlying diseases”
According to data reports from official media, it was found that among the publicly announced “severe new coronavirus pneumonia” patients, a large part of the population belonged to patients with respiratory diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and liver cirrhosis; there were serious underlying diseases Of the population also belong to the “COVID-19 susceptible population” and need to be focused on.
4. People with poor living habits and low self-immunity
In normal life, I don’t like exercise. I sit for a long time, smoke, and drink alcohol for a long time. It is easy to catch a cold by people next to me, which shows that “the resistance is relatively low.” Such people are also susceptible to the new coronavirus. Such people need to adjust their lifestyle and eating patterns, exercise more, eat and sleep balance arrangements, and enhance their defense against viruses. In addition, children, pregnant women, and medical staff who come into contact with patients are also “susceptible to the COVID-19 virus”. These people need to “focus on prevention and control” in their lives to avoid being attacked by the epidemic.
