As winter quickly approaches, the flu and Covid are once again in the news. Many people often suffer from one of these two diseases without knowing which one it is.
With the arrival of winter, respiratory infections like the flu and Covid-19 become more frequent. These two diseases have similar symptoms, making them difficult, but not impossible, to distinguish. Here are some concrete elements that will allow you to differentiate between these two conditions this winter.
What are the key differences between Covid and the flu?
Symptoms
The flu and Covid-19 have similar symptoms, such as cough and fever. However, the difference occurs in the appearance of these symptoms. Indeed, in the case of Covid, the fever appears before the cough whereas it is the opposite for the flu. Furthermore, Covid has symptoms that are specific to it, in particular loss of smell or the taste of food, as mentioned on the actu.fr website.
Incubation duration
THE specific symptoms of Covid, whose new variant is raging, are not the only ones who can differentiate it from the flu. In fact, its incubation period does not extend over the same duration as that of the flu. You should know that the incubation period flu lasts between 1 to 4 days while Covid lasts longer. As a reminder, the incubation period for Covid-19 lasts between 2 to 14 days after contact with a contaminated person.
Speed of transmission
The time required to develop the disease is different depending on whether you suffer from the flu or Covid. Therefore, the disease transmission is not carried out at the same speed depending on whether we find ourselves in one case or the other. Know that a person with flu syndrome can transmit it three days after contracting it. This transmission time is slightly longer in the case of covid-19, because it has a serial interval of 3 to 5 days.
How can we avoid these two diseases this winter?
Wear a mask
To avoid catching the flu or Covid this winter, we cannot advise you enough to take out your mask. The flu virus, like the covid virus, is spread mainly by aerosol route in crowded and poorly ventilated public places as well as enclosed spaces. It is therefore essential to wear your mask in each of these places to protect yourself from these two viruses, particularly Covid.
Get vaccinated
Covid and the flu are two maladies very dangerous which attack the respiratory system. Fortunately, there are already vaccines that protect against these diseases and whose effectiveness has been proven. Getting vaccinated is therefore today the best way to protect against illnesses. In case you didn’t know, it is possible to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and the flu at the same time. As a reminder, each year, around 2 to 6 million people get the flu each winter and this often leads to deaths. If it is true that get vaccinated is not obligatory, it is still preferable to do it to preserve your health.
Ventilation of spaces
Whether it is the Coronavirus or the flu, these two diseases are transmitted by aerosol in places that are poorly ventilated. There ventilation of public places therefore appears to be one of the most effective solutions to fight against the transmission of covid and flu. Unfortunately, the public authorities have not yet put in place the mechanisms to achieve this result. On the other hand, Belgium has already promulgated a law which aims to improve air quality in public places.
