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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
While all the press is currently talking about a triple respiratory epidemic, it is not always easy to distinguish between the symptoms of the flu, covid, or even bronchiolitis for the youngest. What are the signs to be aware of?
Between a ninth wave of covid, an epidemic threshold of influenza declared in several regions in France, and the bronchiolitis which is still rife (among the youngest, not but that), we are spoiled for choice among respiratory viruses at the beginning of December. Stuffy nose, fever, fatigue, headaches… what are the signs that make it possible to distinguish this or that infection? How to react ? Here is what we know so far.
What are the symptoms of Covid so far?
At the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the warning symptoms of Covid were quite clear to everyone: fever, cough and above all an evocative loss of taste and smell. But as the waves followed, the official list of symptoms also evolved. Today, according to Zoe, the UK’s largest Covid symptom reporting database (over 4 million submissions), the most commonly reported signs are:
- A runny nose;
- Sore throat;
- Headaches ;
- A persistent cough;
- Tired.
The complete loss of smell and taste, known as anosmia, is no longer systematic. On the other hand, it is very rarely reported in colds and hay fever or the flu. If you lose your sense of smell, then there is a good chance that it is the Covid.
Among the new symptoms listed today we also find the occurrence of:
- Diarrhea ;
- Nausea or vomiting.
Two symptoms that do not fit into the symptoms of a cold, flu or bronchiolitis and which can point you towards a Covid.
We also recalled it last March in Doctissimo, if the coronavirus can cause symptoms similar to those of a moderate flu syndrome, it can also present more severe signs, in people at risk, such as acute respiratory distress, or acute renal failure.
What are the symptoms of the flu?
After two years of social distancing, the flu seems to be reasserting itself this year, and promises to be virulent. Five regions are already at the pre-epidemic threshold to date and this should increase in the coming weeks.
Flu symptoms can be confused with covid symptoms.
- Intense fever (around 39°C);
- Intense fatigue (asthenia);
- headaches (headaches);
- Body aches (diffuse muscle and joint pain);
- Chills ;
- Sometimes a cough and nasal congestion…
As Dr. Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, reminds us, the fever is often much higher in a flu than during a covid. On the other hand, sore throats are more intense in a Covid.
What are the symptoms of bronchiolitis?
If we are also talking about bronchiolitis today, it is because this other respiratory virus is also raging this fall, especially among toddlers, many of whom are seen in the emergency department or even hospitalized. Symptoms of RSV, respiratory syncytial virus are: runny nose, cough, or shortness of breath.
But Dr. Kierzek insists on a precision in this comparison: “It must be remembered that these three viruses do not affect the same public. If the flu and the covid affect adults more readily, in bronchiolitis it is young children who are overwhelmingly affected.
- Thus the symptoms begin in babies and children with ENT signs: runny nose, sore throat;
- They quickly result in respiratory dyspnea, difficulty breathing, wheezing like an asthma attack…
Reasons for consultation, urgently if the child shows difficulty in breathing.
To find out more, discover our article “Bronchiolitis in babies: in which cases should we go to the emergency room?”