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How to Tell if it’s a Cold, the Flu, COVID-19 or RSV
Tahoe Daily Tribune ^ | Oct 22, 2023

Posted on 10/24/2023 3:33:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway

There’s much to look forward to at the start of winter. The holiday season starts winter off with a bang, while outdoor enthusiasts know their chances to hit the slopes and ski and snowboard are just beginning. Sports fans know January marks the return of the National Football League playoffs, while travelers who need a little winter warmth often designate February as a month to soak up some sun in a faraway locale.

With so much to do each winter, it’s especially problematic when you come down with a cold. However, winter tends to be cold and flu season in many areas, as viruses tend to spread more easily when people spend more time indoors. This winter, people may wonder if their sniffles indicate they have a cold, the flu or a sign of something more serious, such as COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Anyone unsure of what’s behind a cold-like illness is urged to speak with their physician. In addition, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases notes that the common cold, the flu, COVID-19, and RSV present some similar symptoms, but also some unique ones. Though each illness is complex, the frequency with which some symptoms present may indicate which issue a person is dealing with. Knowledge of those symptoms and their frequency can help people determine if the culprit behind their winter illness is a cold, the flu, COVID-19, or RSV.

Cold

Aches: Sometimes

Difficulty breathing: Rarely

Fatigue: Sometimes Fever: Rarely

Loss of taste or smell: Rarely

Sore throat: Often

Wheezing: Rarely

Flu

Aches: Often

Difficulty breathing: Rarely

Fatigue: Often

Fever: Often

Loss of taste or smell: Rarely

Sore throat: Sometimes

Wheezing: Rarely

COVID-19

Aches: Sometimes

Difficulty breathing: Often

Fatigue: Often

Fever: Sometimes

Loss of taste or smell: Sometimes

Sore throat: Often

Wheezing: Rarely

RSV

Aches: Rarely

Difficulty breathing: Sometimes

Fatigue: Rarely

Fever: Sometimes

Loss of taste or smell: Rarely

Sore throat: Rarely

Wheezing: Often

Individuals who are concerned by the presence of cold- or flu-like symptoms are urged to speak with their physicians. Though many instances of cold, flu, COVID-19, and RSV will go away without medical intervention, each condition can pose a significant health risk in certain situations.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: chinavirus; cold; covid19; flu; hh2; rsv
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1 posted on 10/24/2023 3:33:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Well looks like I have the flu then.

Ugh.


2 posted on 10/24/2023 3:36:55 PM PDT by Persevero (You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
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To: Persevero

Easy. Go get tested for Covid.

You’ll invariably test positive for Covid (whether you have it or not), so now you have Covid.

Eat some soup and get some rest.


3 posted on 10/24/2023 3:39:51 PM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: nickcarraway

If you’ve been vaxxed it’s Covid.


4 posted on 10/24/2023 3:45:51 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: FLNittany

I know some people that get tested (or do a home test) obsessively whenever they feel under the weather. Kind of creepy.

We were overwhelmed with ragweed this fall and allergy symptoms so bad that I thought mine had become a sinus infection. Fortunately it did not. Those I noted above would not consider air quality as a factor when we pointed it out.

It.had.to.be.covid. They worship covid in some perverted way.


5 posted on 10/24/2023 3:49:57 PM PDT by ChildOfThe60s ( If you can remember the 60s.....you weren't really there..)
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To: nickcarraway

The only reason we’re hearing about RSV is because someone came up w/a drug to treat it this past year.

It’s always been around, but at such low levels and low morbidity, states don’t even consider it a reportable condition.


6 posted on 10/24/2023 3:54:07 PM PDT by fruser1
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To: nickcarraway

What does “covid” look like?


7 posted on 10/24/2023 4:05:56 PM PDT by wastedyears (The left would kill every single one of us and our families if they knew they could get away with it)
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To: fruser1

“The only reason we’re hearing about RSV is because someone came up w/a drug to treat it this past year.”

Thank you! I was wondering why I needed an RSV this year?


8 posted on 10/24/2023 4:11:44 PM PDT by caver
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To: nickcarraway

Can you show me on this doll where COVID touched you?


9 posted on 10/24/2023 4:11:52 PM PDT by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: nickcarraway

I remember back when I was a preteen into my early teens I would get a cold almost every other week in the Winter and once a month in Summer.

I had aspirin, Vicks vapor rub, cough drops and Contact 24 hour capsules if my Mom would let me take it from her medicine cabinet, which was rare.

It was part of growing up and I just had to power thru them.


10 posted on 10/24/2023 4:14:59 PM PDT by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
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To: nickcarraway

Don’t worry about it.

Stress compromises the immune system.

Make some chicken soup and stay home unless you take a serious turn for the worse.


11 posted on 10/24/2023 4:15:49 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.)
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To: nickcarraway

Nothing about coughing?


12 posted on 10/24/2023 4:17:04 PM PDT by US_MilitaryRules (#PureBloodlaw enforcement. )
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To: nickcarraway

Looks like my husband has RSV. He has been wheezing.


13 posted on 10/24/2023 4:45:15 PM PDT by yldstrk (Bingo! We have a winner!)
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To: fruser1

No, the doctor gave my husband nothing to treat his RSV. Said to take Mucinex.


14 posted on 10/24/2023 4:46:26 PM PDT by yldstrk (Bingo! We have a winner!)
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To: nickcarraway; Persevero

worthless article ... the progression of symptom onset is the best differential indicator of disease type ... for example, the flu comes on like a freight train: one day you’re fine and the next day you have achy joints and suddenly a raging fever and severe malaise and fatigue ...

a cold can take days to develop, with slowly developing fatigue and malaise and the increasing feeling that something’s not right and you might be coming down with something ... then a sore throat, and finally a very sore throat, mild fever, very runny nose, cough and increased fatigue and malaise, headache, loss of appetite ...

RSV starts off similarly to a cold, BUT after a few days it often will travel down into the lungs, becoming a VERY nasty and very dangerous viral pneumonia ...


15 posted on 10/24/2023 4:54:49 PM PDT by catnipman (A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil)
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To: US_MilitaryRules

“Nothing about coughing?”

I had an upper respirator infection. Maybe RSV. Coughing was the worst part.


16 posted on 10/24/2023 4:58:35 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: nickcarraway

In other news...
“How to tell if it’s allergies, snorting too much cocaine, a dusty house, or a genetically modified, lab created biowepon intent upon human extermination with a “cure” which kills more people than the bioweapon”

...I’ll post the link soon.

...developing


17 posted on 10/24/2023 5:01:09 PM PDT by SheepWhisperer (Get involved with, or start a home fellowship group. It will be the final church. ACTS 2:42-47)
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To: yldstrk

“Looks like my husband has RSV. He has been wheezing.”

we developed a nasty RSV infection that was going around here like gang busters last year ... scared the crap out of me: my lungs were full of crackling, popping, wheezing and horn sounds ... so watch him closely ...

also, despite the BS on the web about “no treatment”, corticosteroid inhalers and bronchodilator inhalers should be prescribed to help reduce lung inflammation and keeping the alveoli open ... also, we found 600mg of cheap generic guaifenesin twice a day was extremely helpful in thinning the lung gunk, greatly aiding coughing it up and out of the lungs ...


18 posted on 10/24/2023 5:03:45 PM PDT by catnipman (A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil)
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To: catnipman
My son thought he had covid awhile back (compounded with Asthma). It wasn't covid (at least by the test), but the Ivermectin he took helped with his asthma. I looked it up, and there are papers on IVM used to treat asthma. Probably other respiratory things as well.
19 posted on 10/24/2023 5:07:28 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: caver

Talking up the covid,flu and rsv jabs continously. Rsv is mostly a childhood virus


20 posted on 10/24/2023 5:24:03 PM PDT by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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