Here is how you can tell if you have a common cold or COVID-19 symptoms.
Since the pandemic is affecting many lives across the globe, people are worried about even the most common symptoms of illness. With a change in weather and even reaction to certain allergens, people often confuse the common cold with COVID-19 symptoms and its natural one may be scared enough to take these symptoms seriously during this time. To make things easier, here is how you can differentiate between the two and tell the difference.
A research study was conducted to understand the difference between a common cold and COVId-19 symptoms, here is how you can tell the difference between the two.
- People with COVID-19 may lose their sense of smell but that is not due to nasal congestion.
- Coronavirus patients can breathe almost normally through their nose and still lose their sense of smell and taste while people with a common cold may lose their sense because of blocked nose.
- The loss of smell is comparatively more profound in COVID-19 patients, according to the research study. The patients in the study were not able to identify the bitter and sweet taste.
- People with coronavirus have been observed to have an immune system that produces cytokine and over-reacts as a response to the virus. The same is not seen for the common cold.
These are some differences that have been observed between a common cold and COVID-19 symptoms. This, however, does not replace the accuracy of diagnostic tools and swab tests that are done to confirm the cases of coronavirus.
You can take the help of the above-mentioned information to understand if you have a common cold or coronavirus infection. If you have observed many other symptoms including loss of senses, fever, diarrhea, etc. then it is best to get tested after confirming with your doctor.
