What is known about the symptoms of the coronavirus and how they differ from other infections such as flu and cold.
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The disease is still too new to finally answer all pressing questions. However, it is certain that the coronavirus kills a higher proportion of people who have been infected with it than the flu virus. However, it is unclear how many people in Germany and worldwide will become infected with the corona virus in the coming weeks and months. Currently, 200 Germans have died of flu since October. In contrast, the three Covid-19 deaths confirmed so far are small. Especially in comparison to the 2017/18 flu wave, which estimates that 25,000 people fell victim to Germany. But no expert can predict with certainty whether this relationship may change dramatically in the coming weeks and months.
After all, after more than 120,000 corona diseases worldwide, the first signs of another question are emerging. A question that is equally relevant for those affected: How do I know if I have Corona? And not because of a flu or a cold? Some symptoms are similar, but the data also shows that certain symptoms appear more or less frequently depending on the disease.
According to an investigation into the 41 first corona cases in China, the specialist magazine Lancet published, all but one of these suffered from fever. 76 percent of them had a dry cough. About half, slightly less than half, suffered from tiredness from shortness of breath to shortness of breath, which is unusual for flu. Headache and diarrhea were significantly less common. Another investigation in the journal JAMA was dedicated to Corona patients being treated in the hospital, especially from Wuhan, where the plague started. She also found that up to 98 percent of those infected had a fever and up to 82 percent cough. Fever and cough were also the two dominant symptoms in a smaller group of 18 patients treated in Singapore hospitals, another said JAMA-Study.
Definitive security will not bring self-diagnosis, which at best offers a test
Headache and muscle pain, essential symptoms of flu, appear to be comparatively rare in corona sufferers. Shortness of breath and shortness of breath are relatively clear indications of Covid-19. This results from the previous studies on the corona virus. Typical signs of cold, such as runny nose or sneezing, play a less important role. Studies of corona patients also showed that the disease was fairly mild in four out of five cases. In contrast, flu often occurs suddenly, the condition of those affected deteriorates within a few hours.
Of course, you have to consider when certain symptoms appear. Was there contact with a corona infected person before? A trip to a risk area? The self-diagnosis will not bring definitive security anyway, it is most likely a test.
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