Symptoms – Delta Variant vs Flu

 

                                                From remotemedical.com

It’s flu season. For many of us, there is an annual ritual of trudging to the local pharmacy or even your regular doctor to get a flu shot. Some don’t believe in getting them, and for even the most virulent case of ordinary influenza, with a tiny exception for the very elderly or immune impairs, it may be a miserable process, but it is survivable. Up to two awful weeks. Not remotely as nasty as a severe case of a Delta COVID infection, which for too many is not survivable. 

As massive red state Delta infections explode beyond treatment capacity, with accompanying mortality rates, there is this equally massive doubling-down in these states on some legally unsubstantiated right, clearly rejected on several occasions by the U.S. Supreme Court, that individuals have the right to reject reasonable government imposed medical mandates aimed at protecting the general population to the extent they require vaccination, masking and various forms of social distancing on everyone. 

There’s even serious talk, also in these red states, of doing away with the possibility of requiring any medical vaccinations – including the standards set in virtually every school district in the United States for any child to attend school. It is very strange to watch legislatures make serious medical decisions, usurping doctors and other advanced healthcare professionals, to support a belief (frequently based on a conspiracy theory) of individual rights, even if many others are exposed to serious disease risks.

For overtaxed hospitals, and I have first-hand experience even in one of the bluest states getting hospital space for a serious non-COVID life-threatening issue, the potential of a serious bout with ordinary influenza just might add a new flood of patients seeking ER treatment… when it probably isn’t necessary. Oddly, in the bluest regions, mask-wearing has definitely contained the Delta virus, but it has equally contained outbreaks of common influenza. Additionally, as the Centers for Disease Control have warned us, “Both COVID-19 and flu can have varying degrees of signs and symptoms, ranging from no symptoms (asymptomatic) to severe symptoms. Common symptoms that COVID-19 and flu share include:

• Fever or feeling feverish/having chills

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fatigue (tiredness)

• Sore throat

• Runny or stuffy nose

• Muscle pain or body aches

• Headache

• Vomiting and diarrhea

• Change in or loss of taste or smell, although this is more frequent with COVID-19.”

For all my faithful readers, it helps to know the difference between these two infections. The above chart is useful, although recent changes in the spread of the Delta virus, combined with the number of adults who are vaccinated, has pushed the number of COVID cases among children to 25% of all new cases. Further, we have learned that COVID vaccinations of pregnant women actually can pass the immune benefit to their unborn. The September 28th FastCompany.com adds some extra information and links to differentiate between the two infections when symptoms first appear:

• Flu: Typically, a person experiences symptoms anywhere from one to four days after infection.

• COVID-19: Typically, a person experiences symptoms about five days after being infected, but symptoms can appear 2 to 14 days after infection.

“The whole page is worth checking out and maybe bookmarking to keep for the rest of the season. It includes sections about complications, how the viruses spread, who is at higher risk for severe illness, and treatments and vaccines. Find it here… Finally, nothing beats an old-fashioned chart. The CDC has tracker pages for the flu (FluView) and COVID-19 (COVID Data Tracker), both of which can help you learn if the viruses are spreading in your community.” Please take all this information seriously, since it just could save your life… and possibly avoid going to an emergency room where lots of real COVID patients are waiting. Or knowing when to make that trip.

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you have any questions or doubts, please consult your regular physician (or at least a clinic staffed with real doctors).