To differentiate between the two, Dr. Mohamed Ezz Al-Arab, advisor to the Egyptian Center for the Right to Medicine, explains to “Sky News Arabia” how to distinguish between allergies and respiratory diseases, as well as the difference between influenza and Covid-19.
The difference between allergies and viral diseases
According to Dr. Ezz Al-Arab, allergies and viral diseases that affect the respiratory system, such as cold, influenza, and corona, are similar in several symptoms, which make the patient confused in classifying what he is infected with, including: coughing, shortness of breath, and runny nose or nasal congestion.
And if we take each disease separately and the totality of its symptoms that distinguish it from the rest, we find, as Ezz Al-Arab explains, with regard to seasonal allergies that it is:
- It spreads in the spring as a result of the spread of pollen.
- Its symptoms are difficulty breathing, coughing, congestion, sneezing, runny nose, itching, and watery eyes.
- It is not accompanied by a rise in temperature.
- It does not cause lung symptoms.
- The chest is intact when an x-ray or CT scan is performed.
Viral diseases
Respiratory viral diseases, in addition to some of the previous symptoms, have other symptoms that distinguish them.
The consultant of the Egyptian Center for the Right to Medicine continues his explanations on this point:
- Viral diseases have an incubation period, so they start with mild symptoms, then double in severity.
- Its symptoms include fever due to high temperature, chills, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, and a low level of oxygen in the blood.
The final word for the test
There is other evidence that differentiates between having an allergy and being exposed to a respiratory virus. Ezz Al-Arab gives examples of that:
- Regarding the person’s medical history.
- In the event that the aforementioned allergy symptoms recur during weather fluctuations, especially with the change of seasons, it is likely that the patient suffers from “allergy and not a viral disease.”
- Allergies can be detected by subjecting a person to “clinical immunity tests” to discover the cause of the disease.
- A vaccine is made from the pathogen, and the body is given serum in increasing doses, to gain immunity from that causative agent.
- In the event of continued doubt, the final word is to conduct a test or examination for “secretory analysis”, whether from the nose or mouth, including PCRK and Antigen analyzes.
How do we differentiate between influenza and corona?
- The greatest similarity in the symptoms of these diseases is between viral respiratory diseases, and people have been very interested in asking about how to differentiate between influenza and corona in particular.
- According to Dr. Ezz Al-Arab, it is difficult to differentiate between the symptoms of corona and influenza, because most respiratory viruses appear with similar symptoms such as fever, chills, body aches, coughing, sneezing, congestion, sore throat, hoarseness, headache, and sometimes middle ear infections.
- However, the type of viral infection can be detected through the aforementioned “excretion analyzes”, according to Ezz Al-Arab.
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