Health Alert: the difference between Covid—19 and the flu

Health Alert: the difference between Covid—19 and the flu

"here's a live look at grants pass from taprock grill.

It's and welcome back to newswatch 12 this morning, and we're joined by providence.

Is chris and filer.

We're going to be talking about the difference between having covid-19 and having the flu or just being sick.

So what are those differences?

Well, this is a real difficult one because all three have tops three symptoms, and it's very hard to distinguish between the three.

Really the only way to do that is to get tested once you don't necessarily have to do for any of them.

Depending on how severe your symptoms are.

So top three symptoms you see for all three fever, which can be accompanied by chills, body aches and cough, all three houses.

So how do you know which one is which now with covid?

I will say.

The top symptoms are, but you tend with covid that you don't necessarily see what the other ones as common are a shortness of breath or a difficulty breathing.

That can be an indicator that yes, this is covid.

Um, we also see this one that has been coming around a lot is this loss of taste and a loss of smell.

And you don't necessarily see that with the other ones.

So that can be a real big indicator that you do have.

Covid uncommon to see with that.

One is a runny nose and congestion.

So that can say, well, maybe this is just a common cold, um, with covid.

You are contagious usually no longer than 10 days after your symptoms resolved.

That's why we want you to be in quarantine for basically two weeks.

A lot of people do test positive and are asymptomatic.

They don't have any symptoms. so we say that they're usually, uh, not contagious after 10 days, starting from the day they tested positive.

So keep that in mind.

If you are someone who's trying to quarantine now with the flu common, we see this every year, it's common respiratory virus affects the nose, the lungs, and the throat with the flu, you see an abrupt onset of symptoms that you don't necessarily see what the common cold, the common cold is a gradual onset of symptoms and usually pretty mild.

With the flu.

It's a pretty abrupt, it's basically you wake up the next morning and you're like, oh, i feel not so good.

You see a fever with this one.

You also see a dry cough with this one and you see body aches and pains, but you also see with this one a little bit different as you'll see a headache and with kids really common to see diarrhea with them.

Now the flu shot can not only help prevent you from getting the flu.

But the big thing about that too, is that it.

May not, if it doesn't help you prevent getting this loo, um, it can help reduce your symptoms. it can make them a lot more mild.

So keep that in mind, if you're on the fence with the flu shot, that the flu shot can help just keep your symptoms so that they're more manageable now with the flu you're contagious.

Usually the first 72 hours, most healthy adults that get the flu.

Can be contagious, unfortunately, 24 hours before they get their first symptoms and up to seven days, um, after the symptoms start.

So also something to keep in mind now with the flu and even with covid, depending on how severe your symptoms are with the flu, you can rest at home and recover, um, drinking fluids, flushing the virus out, resting.

We always say rest and people think well, yeah, cause i'm tired, but no, actually when you're sleeping, you're producing certain proteins, you're producing certain cells that help fight that viral infection.

So that's where we say, get some sleep and get some good sleep so you can produce those and release them and help find them.

And then also you can take some over the counter stuff, um, to help control your fever like tylenol or advil, motrin, ibuprofen, things like that.

With the common cold.

Um, also kind of those symptoms that we see a majority of these symptoms are actually, or excuse me, the majority of the common cold virus is caused by a lot of corona viruses.