Public health experts in Wales have voiced concerns about tackling the dual problem of Covid-19 and flu this winter. Latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that coronavirus cases are on the rise in Wales but remain at very low levels.
It is understood that around one in 50 people, or 2.07% of the Welsh population, was living with the virus for the week ending September 20. That is more than double the figure recorded just a fortnight earlIer when one in 110 had Covid. There are also early signs that more people are in hospital with 'confirmed' coronavirus, although nearly all of them are being treated for other conditions. You can read more on that here.
Meanwhile Public Health Wales (PHW) has also issued a warning that the influenza season will begin earlier and will affect more people than normal. Scientists say that the flu season could be as severe as the 2017-18 flu outbreak where 16,500 thousand people in Wales were diagnosed by their GP and 2,500 people were hospitalised. There was also a high level of seasonal excess deaths that year – the worst for around 20 years. You can read more on that here.
Read more: Covid rate in Wales more than doubles in a fortnight
PHW believes Covid-19 lockdowns and international travel restrictions have disrupted the amount of respiratory viruses in circulation, but as our lives are going back to normal viruses are returning in higher number.
Over the next few weeks and months many people may find themselves becoming unwell with Covid, flu or both if they're extremely unlucky. But it can be difficult to spot the differences between the two. Here, we try and explain what sets them apart.
What are the latest symptoms of Covid?
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people with Covid-19 have reported a wide range of symptoms - ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.
Possible symptoms include:
- 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
- Diarrhoea.
It must be stressed that this list does not include all possible symptoms. The CDC says it will continue to update this list as it learns more about the virus. It added that older adults and people who have underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes are at higher risk for getting very sick from Covid-19.
The CDC and Public Health Wales says efforts to maximize the proportion of people who are up-to-date with their Covid-19 vaccines remains critical to reducing the risk of severe infection, illness and death.
What are the symptoms of flu?
Influenza can cause mild to severe illness and, at times, can lead to death. Flu symptoms usually come on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:
- Fever or feeling feverish/chills (although it's important to note that not everyone with flu will have a fever)
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Muscle or body aches
- Headaches
- Fatigue (tiredness)
- Some people may have vomiting and diarrhoea, though this is more common in children than adults.
Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks, but some people will develop complications such as pneumonia, sinus and ear infections.
In summary, you cannot tell the difference between flu and Covid by the symptoms alone because they are so similar. Specific testing is needed to tell what the illness is and to confirm a diagnosis.
What are the differences?
If a person has Covid-19, the CDC says it could take them longer from the time of infection to experience symptoms than if they have flu. When it comes to flu, a person may experience symptoms anywhere from one to four days after infection. However with Covid a person may experience symptoms anywhere from two to five days, and up to 14 days after infection.
Similarly if a person has Covid-19, they could be contagious for a longer time than if they have flu. People with flu virus infection are potentially contagious for about one day before they show symptoms. However, it is believed that flu is spread mainly by people who are symptomatic. The CDC says older children and adults with flu appear to be most contagious during the first three to four days of their illness, but some people might remain contagious for slightly longer periods. Infants and people with weakened immune systems can be contagious for even longer.
However, with Covid people can begin spreading the virus that causes Covid-19 two to three days before their symptoms begin, but infectiousness peaks one day before their symptoms begin. People can also spread the virus that causes Covid-19 without experiencing any symptoms. On average, people are considered contagious for about eight days after their symptoms began.
According to the CDC, there are also key differences in how Covid and flu are spread. While the virus that causes Covid-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, the virus that causes Covid-19 is generally more contagious than flu viruses. Also, Covid-19 has been observed to have more 'superspreading' events than flu. This means the virus that causes Covid-19 can quickly and easily spread to a lot of people and result in continual spreading among people as time progresses.
The virus that causes Covid-19 can be spread to others by people before they begin showing symptoms, by people with very mild symptoms, and by people who never experience symptoms (asymptomatic people).
In addition, it is thought that severe Covid-19 illness resulting in hospitalisation and death can occur even in healthy people. Some people that had the virus can go on to develop post-Covid conditions, multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) or blood clots in the veins and arteries of the lungs, heart, legs or brain. This is not as common in flu. However, secondary bacterial infections are more common with influenza than with Covid-19.
So in summary, from what we know:
Covid-19 spreads more easily than flu
Covid-19 can cause more severe illness in some people
People infected with Covid-19 may take longer to show symptoms and may be contagious for longer periods of time.
READ NEXT:
- Patient waited almost two days in an ambulance to be admitted to A&E
Hospital inspector boss reveals his biggest concerns for the Welsh NHS
The astronomical sums the Welsh NHS has paid out in compensation
More than 50 NHS Wales leaders say social care is in a 'state of emergency'
Drug shown to slow memory decline in Alzheimer's patients in 'historic' breakthrough
