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Cold? Flu? Allergies? Or is it COVID-19?
Cold? Flu? Allergies? Or is it COVID-19?Coughing, sneezing, and a fever—you are feeling sick. It’s natural to feel anxious about your symptoms—youmay wonder if you have a cold, the flu, allergies or something much more serious like COVID-19. Coronavirus,flu, cold, and allergies can have similar symptoms—making it difficult to tell the difference. But don’t panic.Take a few minutes to look at the symptoms you have so you know when to call the doctor.Let’s start with the Common Cold. A cold is caused by a virus. Symptoms of a cold include runny nose,sneezing, sore throat and cough. Your symptoms may be mild. The flu is also caused by a virus. If you havethe flu you may notice symptoms such as: runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and a cough. Flu can also includemuscle or body aches, headaches and tiredness. And you may have a fever. Older people and those withchronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease can develop more serious flucomplications like pneumonia.If you have allergies, your symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing, wheezing, itchy, watery eyes and itchynose, throat, and ears. Now let’s look at the symptoms for COVID-19 caused by the Coronavirus. The mostcommon symptoms of COVID-19 are cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, body aches and fatigue. Somepeople report a loss of taste and smell. These symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure tocoronavirus.In severe cases, complications include pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure anddeath. Many of the symptoms of cold, flu and allergies can seem like COVID-19 and it can be confusing. Butthe important difference is the most common symptom of coronavirus is fever.It’s important to monitor your symptoms. If you think you may have COVID-19, or your symptoms of cold, flu, orallergies are getting worse and you need relief, call your healthcare provider. But make sure to call beforegoing into their office or emergency room and let them know your symptoms. If you do have COVID-19, youcould infect others spreading the virus to your community.Be honest about your symptoms, follow the advice of your healthcare provider and get the treatment you need.For more information on the symptoms of COVID-19 go to www.cdc.gov.This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER58049B EN ColdFluAllergiesOrIsItCOVID19.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 1
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