Flu And Coronavirus What Are The Differences Between The Two?

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The virus known as Covid-19, also called coronavirus, has plunged the world into a general alert; it was even officially named a pandemic. As explained by the World Health Organization (WHO), this "is a highly contagious new pathogen, which can spread rapidly and must be considered capable of causing enormous health, economic and social impacts in any environment."

Although, due to its characteristics, it could be confused as the common flu, it has differences that are important that, if detected early, can be treated in time and prevent further contagion.

For its part, the Spanish Ministry of Health explains that the Covid-19 shows symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath; In some cases, you may also have a runny nose, sore throat, or diarrhea. For its part, what is known as the common flu is characterized by causing fever and chills, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, malaise, muscle aches, loss of appetite and dry cough.

According to the WHO, in the case of Covid-19 the symptoms are usually mild and gradual. There are those who become infected but do not develop it, the so-called asymptomatic patients, and, therefore, they are not ill. Most people recover on their own, but 1 in 6 develop pneumonia and experience shortness of breath. The difference from Covid-19 to the common flu is that it can lead to generalized sepsis leading to death.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the USA, explains that the official global mortality of the covid-19 coronavirus is 2.3%, but the real one can be around 1%, taking into account infections that are not detect.

"By comparison, the common flu kills less than 1% of patients," Fauci told the BBC.