Though we’re working with a much higher level of immunity than we had in 2020, Dr. Gendlina also stresses the severity of COVID for people who haven’t had any version of the shot. “People who are not vaccinated, especially those with underlying medical conditions, can develop severe disease and become very ill,” she says. “They may need to be hospitalized.”
What do COVID-19 symptoms look like this winter?
When it comes to respiratory illness symptoms, the gang’s all here. According to Rebecca Choudhury, M.D., a board-certified internal medicine and infectious disease physician and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, the virus can cause fever, chills, headache or body ache, nasal congestion, sore throat, and cough.
Mary Gover, M.D., a board-certified internal medicine physician and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, also calls out tiredness, runny nose, loss of taste and smell, and digestive symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. People who are and are not vaccinated can experience the same long list of symptoms, says Choudhury, but at drastically different levels. “People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 may experience similar types of symptoms as those who have not been vaccinated,” she says. “However, vaccination has been shown to significantly decrease the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, reducing the risk of hospitalization and death from infection.”
How can you differentiate between COVID-19 and other illnesses?
All our expert physicians agree that it can be near impossible to determine whether a patient is dealing with a cold, flu, RSV, or COVID-19 without testing. Even the way we speak about the illnesses tends to confuse the two. “I’ve had many patients and family members who have come down with COVID-19 describe the symptoms as ‘like a really bad flu,’” Dr. Choudhury says.
Mild COVID-19 symptoms can easily be mistaken for a cold or sinus infection. RSV might feel like a mild cold or like severe bronchitis. If you have a high fever, that might indicate flu or coronavirus, but not having a fever doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have flu or coronavirus. The amount of overlap means that doctors will often “triple test” and check for influenza, RSV, and COVID all at once.
Without a test, physicians rely on “epidemiology and prevalence of circulating viruses,” says Dr. Gendlina. For example, during times of high influenza prevalence, “we can be pretty confident in diagnosis based on symptoms and exposures.” Think of it this way: If everyone at your office comes down with the flu, a physician might be more likely to assume your fever and cough are symptoms of flu than of RSV.
When should you seek out a COVID diagnosis?
If the most common infection culprits all feel so similar, does it matter which one you have? The short answer is yes. Getting a diagnosis means you can get the proper treatment ASAP. This can shorten the duration of your symptoms, lessen their severity, and reduce the chance of complications, Dr. Gendlina says.
Dr. Gendlina also notes that a diagnosis can be crucial not just for your well-being but so experts can gauge health trends. “From an epidemiological and public health standpoint, we want to know what viruses are circulating and how commonly they are identified,” she explains.
If you think you may have COVID, take a home antigen test. “They’re accurate and fairly sensitive in [making a diagnosis], particularly in those with symptoms,” Dr. Choudhury says. If your test comes back positive, reach out to your doctor so they can recommend the best course of action, especially if you’re feeling super crummy or have preexisting conditions. If your symptoms are mild and you don’t feel ill enough to see a doctor, Dr. Gover recommends staying home until you’ve been fever-free for 24 hours and your symptoms are better, then wear a mask and keep your distance from others for five days.
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