The one thing that the entire world is concerned about right now is the spread of coronavirus. The virus has claimed more than 3,000 lives world over and has infected more than 90,000 people. The virus SARS-CoV-2 that leads to Covid-19 belongs to the same family of viruses that gives you diseases ranging from a common cold to certain respiratory syndromes, say World Health Organisation (WHO) reports.
Now that we know both common cold and Covid-19 belong to the same family, all of us have the same question: Is there a way to tell if you've got the flu or Covid-19 from the symptoms without seeing a doctor? IndiaToday.in spoke to 3 ENT doctors from the capital to get you an answer.
DR ANIL KUMAR RAI, RAM MANOHAR LOHIA HOSPITAL
Whenever somebody feels exhausted and they feel that they have difficulty in respiration or that there is some cough with mucus, tightness or heaviness in the chest, these are symptoms of coronavirus. But normal influenza and common cold also have these types of symptoms, as does the H1N1 virus (swine flu).
If you have influenza, be it from any virus, coronavirus or H1N1 virus, the symptoms run similar. People who are at more risk are the elderly who have kidney problems and who are immunocompromised. They are the first-line patients. If they have a problem in the respiratory system, they need to be checked.
There is no way you can differentiate between the flu and Covid-19 without a test. If the influenza or common cold doesn't die down in 5 days, then go get yourself tested.
There is no need to panic. People are panicking. Coronavirus has taken 2-3 per cent lives in China. Har bimari main itne hi log marte hai (Any disease takes these many lives). This is nothing extraordinary and there is nothing to panic about.
DR MONICA MAHAJAN, MAX HOSPITAL
You can't really tell the two apart from the symptoms. So you have to have a history of travel or a history of contact with a patient who was tested positive: those histories are more important. Apart from that, anybody who has any kind of breathing difficulty or has associated diarrhoea, headaches or vomiting during the flu - these are the patients who should definitely go and see a doctor.
If it is just a simple cough and cold and there is no history of travel or no contact with a flu patient, there is nothing to worry about. But in the times to come, it is going to be extremely difficult to isolate these because even if you have not travelled but have come in the contact of a person who has the flu, those people may present themselves as secondary cases. You cannot really distinguish between the flu and Covid-19 while sitting at home. You have to have a test to be sure at the end of the day.
DR JASVEER SINGH, SIR GANGA RAM HOSPITAL
There is a lot of panic around the topic. There is no need to panic. You recover from normal influenza within 5-7 days, but if you do not see that happening, then you know that it is time to go to the doctor and get yourself tested.