How to differentiate between a cold, flu and COVID-19 and step wise action plan for covid treatment

By Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan, Head, Wellness and Wellbeing at Columbia Pacific Communities

 

Features	Cold	Flu	COVID-19
Presenting Symptoms Most common       Less common	Running nose, sneezing       Fever, sore throat	Headache, running nose, fever     Sore throat	Sore throat, fever, body ache, loss of smell,taste and have diarrhoa
H/o Contact tracing with COVIDpositive individual either as primary or secondary contact	Not present	Not present	Sometimes present
Onset of symptoms with exposure to symptomatic individuals (Cold, sore throat, cough, fever)	1-3 days	1-4 days	2-14 days
Symptoms appearing 6 weeks post the second dose of vaccination against COVID	Possible	Possible	Unlikely

 

Even though the symptoms are similar,the colonisation of the causative organism makes a difference.In COVID-19 there is a strong colonisation in the nasopharynx,hence bringing in the symptom ofloss of smell and taste. 

Symptomatic treatment includes

• Warm sips of fluids
• Saline/Betadine gargling
• Adequate hydration
• Steam inhalation

Precautions

• Avoid crowded places
• Maintain social distancing of 6 feet
• Always wear a mask when stepping out and definitely in indoor spaces.
• Maintain hygiene by frequently washing and sanitising your hand
• Avoid any contact with your eyes,nose and mouth before washing hands when you are outdoors. After returning from outdoors, avoid any contact with your eyes, nose and mouth, until you wash and sanitise your hands.
• Consume a well-balanced dietand engage in adequate physical activities.

As we see the mutation in the SARS CoV2,the virulence of this omicron is less even though it is highly infectious.A booster dose may reduce the chances of getting infected.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)