It will be simple cold, flu, Covid or something else? We try to orient ourselves among the symptoms when there is a neighbor coughing on the subway or bus, a colleague with a paper handkerchief constantly up his nose, a friend at home under the sheets with a high fever, children with gastroenteritis .
It’s a portrait of winter normality, but these days it’s already becoming reality, with the debut of October, the summer becoming a memory and the cold season making its way. But how to understand – by reading the symptoms – which enemy you are dealing with? How to orient yourself in an increasingly crowded ‘parterre’ of viruses that come into action with the first sudden changes in temperatures and then with prolonged drops in the mercury column? “There is an ‘ideal’ scheme, so to speak, which – except for Covid which is transversal – starts from the top with influenza, metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus. Then there are 262 viruses” and at the base of all the rhinovirus, ” which is what only causes a stuffy nose, the common cold”, explains virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco to Adnkronos Salute.
There is a small problem: that most of the time one pathogen is “indistinguishable” from another, “from a clinical point of view. That’s why there are those who say ‘I got the flu’, generalising”. But then under this umbrella fall a crowd of microorganisms, including “enteroviruses, which lead to deviations towards gastrointestinal symptoms”.
The handbook
The expert offers some indications for moving more consciously in this sea of respiratory dangers and, first of all, narrows the circle on the ‘suspects’ of the week: “At the moment – stated the director of the School of Specialization in Hygiene and Medicine estimate of the University of Milan – thanks to the sudden changes in terms that characterize these days, In particular, flu-like forms are circulating. There have been some sporadic isolations of influenza, but it is typical of the pre-season to have a mix of viruses of these proportions, which also includes gastroenteritis. The real flu comes when the temperature is low for a prolonged period of time. The activity of the pathogens for now is not at a basal level, but a little above the average for the period and we are hovering around around 150-200 thousand cases per week, according to wild estimates. Today, in fact, there is still no official data, because the surveillance network” on respiratory viruses “has not yet started”.
Flu symptoms
This is the current scenario. Soon, however, the problem will arise of understanding whether it is the flu or something else and here we come across one of the few certainties. “The real flu again this year is always recognized by the usual triad: high fever”, generally from 38 degrees upwards, “with an abrupt onset; at least one general symptom (joint or muscle pain, fatigue); at least one respiratory symptom (runny nose, cough, red eyes)”, lists Pregliasco. “All the rest, however, are the other viruses. And Covid complicates the scenario, it fooled us a bit because it is transversal: it can cause very similar symptoms, less or more severe. It could be anything, even that banal thing which then maybe it evolves badly in the most fragile subjects.
The symptoms of Covid
Do the latest variants of Sars-CoV-2 have particular symptoms? “No – replies Pregliasco – it cannot be understood, the person’s response to the virus is also very varied. “With the more recent versions there are generally milder forms, even if they can alternately cause severe effects. I have also seen young people with still the loss of taste and smell and elderly people with nothing at all. It’s all extremely variable and It is precisely the strength of this virus that continues to spread like this. And this uncertainty determines the need for the swab, at least in the elderly and frail.” Can there be Covid without fever? “Yes – says the virologist – we now have a hybrid immunity which, depending on the residual response capacity compared to the immunoevasiveness of the new variants, and depending on how we are in terms of health, can lead the virus to manifest itself in various ways “.
Different experts try from time to time, with the debut of a new variant, to bring some order to this variety of forms. In recent days, in a focus published on the ‘Yale Medicine’ website, for example, the characteristics of the XEC variant are explored in depth, which has stood out for its rapid growth in some areas of Europe and is already among the 5 most widespread in the USA (where it is 6% according to the latest estimates). According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, symptoms still include (but are not limited to) cough, congestion or runny nose, diarrhea, fever or chills, shortness of breath, and loss of taste or smell, yes reads in focus. And according to Yale Medicine infectious disease specialist Scott Roberts, there currently appears to be no change in the virus’s behavior outside of increased transmissibility.
The five golden rules
So how to move? Once again, suggests Pregliasco, just keep in mind the 5 golden rules: “The first is common sense, understood as attention to temperature changes, use of the mask in particular situations, washing your hands and everything we have learned over time of pandemic – lists – The second point is: anti-Covid and anti-flu vaccination for the frail and the elderly. Third: responsible self-medication for all forms, whatever they may be, to mitigate the symptoms without eliminating them, and follow the progress. for 2 or 3 days, consulting the doctor if things don’t improve. The fourth principle: carrying out the Covid swab for elderly and frail people is still important to carry out, as in addition to self-medication, therefore to the anti-inflammatory over-the-counter drugs, there is the possibility of using the antiviral Paxlovid* in this range. Covid is still bad for these people. Fifth rule: no antibiotics immediately in the early stages, no self-prescription”.
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