Is It the flu, a cold or COVID-19? How to tell your symptoms apart, according to doctors

MARIA: WITH THE TEMPERATURE DROPPING, PEOPLE ARE HOPING THAT COLD AND FLU SEASON ISN’T TOO BAD. OF COURSE, COVID IS STILL IN OUR MIDST. ED: HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IS DR. TODD OTHERING, FAMILIAR FACE HERE. DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. GREAT TO SEE YOU. LET’S START WITH A QUESTION WE HAVE GOTTEN SEVERAL TIMES AND HAVE ADDRESSED IT, BUT IT IS WORTH GOING OVER AGAIN. IF YOU TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID, SHOULD YOU WAIT BEFORE YOU GET THE NEW OMICRON BOOSTER? DR. ELLERIN: THIS IS IMPORTANT. WHAT THE CDC IS SAYING RIGHT NOW, THE DETAILS IS THAT THEY SAY YOU CAN GET IT ANYTIME AFTER YOU ARE INFECTED AND IT RESULTS YOUR INFECTION. BUT THEN THEY SAY IT MAY BE BEST TO WAIT THREE MONTHS. THAT IS A GOOD IDEA. AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW THE EXACT TIMING. I THINK THE SWEET SPOT IS PROBABLY SOMETIME WITHIN THREE TO SIX MONTHS AFTER INFECTION OR AFTER THE LAST BOOSTER. WHY? BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT TO DELIVER ANTIBODIES ON TOP OF ANTIBODIES, WHICH YOU GET IF YOU GET INFECTED OR IF YOU GET A BOOSTER. THE IMMUNE SYSTEM JUST RESPONDS BETTER WHEN YOU DELAY IT A LITTLE BIT, SO I WOULD WAIT AT LEAST THREE MONTHS. MARIA: WE HAVE TALKED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS ABOUT THE VIRUSES OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, COVID, FLU. WHEN IT COMES TO TESTING, WHAT IS THE BEST RULE OF THUMB? SHOULD YOU AUTOMATICALLY BE GRABBING THAT COVID TEST IF YOU% EXHIBIT ANY SYMPTOMS AT ALL? DR. ELLERIN: WE ARE GETTING INTO THAT RESPIRATORY VIRAL TIME OF YEAR, AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE DON’T JUST SORT OF IGNORE OUR SYMPTOMS. IF YOU HAVE RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS, IT MAKES SENSE TO DO THE TESTING THAT WE HAVE, THE RAPID TESTING. IF YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE ONE BUT YOU ARE REALLY SYMPTOMATIC, YOU WANT TO REPEAT IT. IF YOU HAVE TWO NEGATIVE TESTS OVER A PERIOD OF A FEW DAYS, THAT IS GOOD EVIDENCE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE COVID, BUT REMEMBER, THERE ARE OTHER RESPIRATORY VERSES AS WELL. YOU DON’T WANT TO FORGET ABOUT INFLUENZA. IT’S IMPORTANT TO DO THE TESTING IF YOU ARE VULNERABLE. WHY? BECAUSE IF YOU GET A POSITIVE COVID RESULT, WE WILL GIVE YOU PAXLOVID. AND IF YOU HAVE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE A RESULT, WE WILL GIVE YOU TAMIFLU. THAT IMPORTANT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE VULNERABLE. . IT IS GOOD IF YOU’RE GOING TO GO TO SCHOOL, IT’S IMPORTANT TO TEST, WE DON’T WANT TO BRING COVID OR INFLUENZA TO OUR SCHOOLS OR WORKING ENVIRONMENTS. ED: KNOWLEDGE IS KEY, DR. T. A FAIR NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE BACK IN THE OFFICE IN A POST-PANDEMIC WORLD, WHATEVER SHAPE THAT IS. ASIDE FROM STAYING HOME WHEN SICK, WHAT IS YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR KEEPING EVERYONE HEALTHY AND RESPECTING THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL MORE CONCERNED THAN OTHERS ABOUT COVID? DR. ELLERIN: I WILL GIVE YOU AN ACRONYM HERE, IT IS ON THE SCREEN, E OF EAST. B STANDS FOR BOOST. NOT ONLY THE COVID, BUT THE INFLUENZA TO START. VACCINATING IS POWER. I DON’T BELIEVE WE WILL HAVE A CATEGORY 5 COVID HURRICANE, BUT I DO BELIEVE WE WILL SEE A COVID STORM THIS WINTER. THE E STANDS FOR EXIT WHEN SICK. IF YOU ARE SYMPTOMATIC, TWO TO SCHOOL. FEVER, CHILLS, COUGHING, STAY HOME. THE A STANDS FOR "AVOID CROWDS IN CLOSE SPACES," ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE VULNERABLE. WE KNOW THAT IS IMPORTANT. COVID SPREADS LIKE WILDFIRE IN THE WINTER WHEN OUR WINDOWS ARE CLOSED AND IN ENCLOSED SPACES, AND I THINK THAT IS COMMON SENSE, BUT IMPORTANT. THE S STANDS FOR "SIZE OF YOUR RISK OF SEVERE DISEASE." THAT CORRELATES TO MASKING. PEOPLE WONDER HOW, OPPRESSIVE SHOULD I BE WITH MASKING? IF YOU WANT TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE, WE KNOW THAT THE MORE YOU MASK THIS WINTER, THE LESS LIKELY WILL GOT COVID OR THE FLU OR THAT YOU WILL GET A RESPIRATORY VIRUS THAT MAY LEAD YOU TO BE HOSPITALIZED. AND LASTLY, THE T IS "TEST AND TREAT." IT IS IMPORTANT TO TEST IF YOU ARE SYMPTOMATIC. IF YOU ARE POSITIVE FOR THE FLU OR COVID, YOU WANT TO STAY HOME. IF YOU ARE HIGH RISK, YOU WANT TO TREAT WITH PAXLOVID OR WITH MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AS WELL. ED: BEAST. WE WILL KEEP THAT IN FRONT OF OUR MIND. DR. ELLERIN: DR. ELLERIN: AND THANK YOU FOR THAT HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIDEO. MARIA: GLAD YOU GOT IT. [LAUGHTER] HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR., BE WELL! TO OUR VIEWERS, IF YOU H

When you’re sick, all you care about is feeling less miserable—but once the temps drop during fall and winter, it can be tricky to figure out if you’re dealing with the flu, COVID-19, or a common cold. So many of the symptoms overlap, but there are a few key differences to keep in mind. (More on that later.) Of course, in order to stop your sniffles, you need to know what’s causing them in the first place. Here, doctors explain how to figure out the answer to your pressing cold vs. flu vs. COVID-19 questions so you can seek the treatment that will actually make you feel better.Cold vs. flu vs. COVID-19 symptomsPart of the reason it can be tricky to know whether you have the flu or a cold or even COVID-19 is simply that there are only a few minor differences between their symptoms.Cold symptomsIn general, cold symptoms show up primarily above your neck: Runny nose Coughing and sneezing Sore throat Slightly swollen glands Minor aches and painsFlu symptomsThis includes symptoms above and below your neck. You have all the signs of a cold, plus the following: Fever over 100°F Chest coughs Weakness and fatigue Headaches Chills Vomiting Diarrhea Full-body achesAnd, again, because COVID-19 should be considered, too, here are the biggest signs of that illness, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache New loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting DiarrheaHow do I know if I have the flu or a cold?The biggest differences between the symptoms of influenza and a cold are their severity and how quickly they develop. With the flu, “one day you are feeling OK, and the next, all your symptoms arise,” says Michael P. Angarone, D.O., professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.Compared to the flu, a cold is milder and symptoms gradually set in. “The flu is like a cold on steroids,” says Joseph Ladapo, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I’ve heard patients say, ‘This is worst I’ve ever felt in my life.’” He also adds this: “If you don’t feel horrible, you probably don’t have flu.”But, like many illnesses, it’s tricky to say that this will happen in every situation. “You can be walking around with the flu—there are all different levels of severity,” says Timothy Murphy, M.D., senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine. Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agrees. “It’s impossible to really differentiate a cold from influenza because the symptoms overlap,” he says. “Influenza tends to be more severe and associated with fever and muscle aches, but it could be mild enough to be confused with the common cold.”It also matters if you’ve been vaccinated against the flu. While the flu vaccine won’t necessarily keep you from getting sick—vaccine effectiveness has ranged from 19% to 60% over the past decade, per CDC data—it “can give partial protection and can turn what would have been a more severe illness into a minor illness,” Dr. Murphy said.David Cennimo, M.D., assistant professor of medicine-pediatrics infectious disease at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, agrees. “People who get vaccinated against influenza and have a ‘breakthrough’ infection tend to be much less sick with more mid symptoms that can be confused with a cold,” he says. “This confusion means that we really do need testing to be sure.”Basically, it can be confusing, even when you know all the classic signs of each illness. Still not sure what’s happening with your health? Asking yourself these questions can help:How severe does this feel?Cold: You feel mildly icky, and things get worse slowly. The first signs might include slight aches, a scratchy throat, a headache, and/or a low-grade fever.Flu: The flu usually hits you like a speeding train. You may first feel feverish at work, and by the time you get home you can barely muster enough energy to climb your porch steps. Every inch of you aches.Can I get out of bed?Cold: Yes, you can walk around. Though you might not want to commute to work or schlep the kids around, you can manage.Flu: In many cases, you’re flat on your back. Extreme fatigue may incapacitate you for at least a few days.What to do if you develop symptomsIn the past, doctors would usually recommend that you see your doctor if you have cold- or flu-like symptoms that make you feel lousy. But with COVID-19 now in the mix, that advice has changed a little. “Do not to go right to your healthcare provider,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.“Any respiratory symptoms…should prompt COVID testing,” Dr. Adalja says. If that’s negative and you think there’s even a chance you could have the flu, Dr. Adalja recommends calling your doctor about getting tested for the flu. “There should be a low threshold for influenza testing because there are influenza antivirals that people can benefit from—if given early enough—especially the high risk,” he says.

So many of the symptoms overlap, but there are a few key differences to keep in mind. (More on that later.) Of course, in order to stop your sniffles, you need to know what’s causing them in the first place. Here, doctors explain how to figure out the answer to your pressing cold vs. flu vs. COVID-19 questions so you can seek the treatment that will actually make you feel better.

Cold vs. flu vs. COVID-19 symptoms

Part of the reason it can be tricky to know whether you have the flu or a cold or even COVID-19 is simply that there are only a few minor differences between their symptoms.

Cold symptoms

In general, cold symptoms show up primarily above your neck:

Runny nose
Coughing and sneezing
Sore throat
Slightly swollen glands
Minor aches and pains

Flu symptoms

This includes symptoms above and below your neck. You have all the signs of a cold, plus the following:

Fever over 100°F
Chest coughs
Weakness and fatigue
Headaches
Chills
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Full-body aches

And, again, because COVID-19 should be considered, too, here are the biggest signs of that illness, per the (CDC).

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

How do I know if I have the flu or a cold?

The biggest differences between the symptoms of influenza and a cold are their severity and how quickly they develop. With the flu, “one day you are feeling OK, and the next, all your symptoms arise,” says , professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Compared to the flu, a cold is milder and symptoms gradually set in.

“The flu is like a cold on steroids,” says , professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. “I’ve heard patients say, ‘This is worst I’ve ever felt in my life.’”

He also adds this: “If you don’t feel horrible, you probably don’t have flu.”

But, like many illnesses, it’s tricky to say that this will happen in every situation. “You can be walking around with the flu—there are all different levels of severity,” says Timothy Murphy, M.D., senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine.

Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, agrees. “It’s impossible to really differentiate a cold from influenza because the symptoms overlap,” he says. “Influenza tends to be more severe and associated with fever and muscle aches, but it could be mild enough to be confused with the common cold.”

It also matters if you’ve been vaccinated against the flu. While the flu vaccine won’t necessarily keep you from getting sick—vaccine effectiveness has ranged from 19% to 60% over the past decade, per —it “can give partial protection and can turn what would have been a more severe illness into a minor illness,” Dr. Murphy said.

David Cennimo, M.D., assistant professor of medicine-pediatrics infectious disease at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, agrees. “People who get vaccinated against influenza and have a ‘breakthrough’ infection tend to be much less sick with more mid symptoms that can be confused with a cold,” he says. “This confusion means that we really do need testing to be sure.”

Basically, it can be confusing, even when you know all the classic signs of each illness. Still not sure what’s happening with your health? Asking yourself these questions can help:

How severe does this feel?

Cold: You feel mildly icky, and things get worse slowly. The first signs might include slight aches, a scratchy throat, a headache, and/or a low-grade fever.

Flu: The flu usually hits you like a speeding train. You may first feel feverish at work, and by the time you get home you can barely muster enough energy to climb your porch steps. Every inch of you aches.

Can I get out of bed?

Cold: Yes, you can walk around. Though you might not want to commute to work or schlep the kids around, you can manage.

Flu: In many cases, you’re flat on your back. Extreme fatigue may incapacitate you for at least a few days.

What to do if you develop symptoms

In the past, doctors would usually recommend that you see your doctor if you have cold- or flu-like symptoms that make you feel lousy. But with COVID-19 now in the mix, that advice has changed a little. “Do not to go right to your healthcare provider,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

“Any respiratory symptoms…should prompt COVID testing,” Dr. Adalja says. If that’s negative and you think there’s even a chance you could have the flu, Dr. Adalja recommends calling your doctor about getting tested for the flu. “There should be a low threshold for influenza testing because there are influenza antivirals that people can benefit from—if given early enough—especially the high risk,” he says.

��vlog