NYT With similar symptoms, it can be difficult to tell which illness is which. Here’s what to know. Early clues suggest that this flu season could be particularly brutal. And while national Covid rates currently appear to be low, researchers expect the virus to circulate more widely in the coming months as people gather for the holidays.
If you feel ill but your symptoms are only above the neck — a stuffy nose, a bit of a sore throat — you could just have a common cold, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
But a hacking cough, muscle aches and full-body fatigue likely indicate a viral infection like flu or Covid. Even infectious disease specialists struggle to tell which virus is which from symptoms alone.
The symptoms
Both flu and Covid can induce coughs, shortness of breath, fatigue, runny noses, head and body pains, sore throats and gastrointestinal issues like stomach pain and diarrhea. The illnesses can also blunt people’s sense of smell — although with influenza, that typically happens because of nasal inflammation, while Covid can impact nerves that help people smell. Fewer people are losing their sense of smell now from Covid than did in the early days of the pandemic.