Just the sniffles, or Covid-19? The experts weigh in

With the South African Weather Service declaring the first day of Meteorological Winter on Tuesday, 2 June, the country moves into its annual flu season. With a rise in Covid-19 infections, how do you know if it’s the usual flu, or Covid-19 and, how prepared are hospitals to deal with both?

Speaking on video on the National Health Insurance’s Facebook page, Prof Salim Abdool Karim delved into the challenges in dealing with influenza and Covid-19 in the winter months.

Karim, the Chairperson of the Covid-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, says the biggest challenge in responding to both viral infections are differentiating the two as they both present similar symptoms. “These two viral infections are very similar and present in similar ways. Influenza is generally a more severe condition in that the symptoms are more severe,” he said.

Similar disease presentation includes symptoms such as a fever, cough, body aches, fatigue, occasional vomiting and diarrhoea, with both viruses able to result in pneumonia.

Karim explained that in a small proportion, Covid-19 becomes very severe and often leads to death. This, he says has been one of the big challenges in dealing with the epidemic. “The problem is with having an epidemic and our annual flu season. We are going to get patients who have influenza coming to clinics and hospitals to be treated, thinking they have Covid-19. In the process, they could be exposed to the virus because our hospitals will be full of Covid-19 patients,” he said.

Dr Sibongile Walaza, a medical epidemiologist at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says one of the major differences in terms of how Covid-19 presents, is shortness of breath.

“Shortness of breath is a common sign of Covid-19. Comparatively, the flu does not cause shortness of breath unless it has progressed to pneumonia,” she says.

Walaza says there is no need to panic if a person displays flu-like symptoms for one to two weeks.

“Patients with influenza or Covid-19 present similar symptoms, therefore, it is difficult to distinguish between the two. But this does provide more reason to get your seasonal influenza vaccine,” she added.

Karim noted that government has prepared as much as they could and that the country is in a probable position to deal with the clinical burden that will come with more infections, even if it is co-mingled with influenza.

https://www.facebook.com/NationalNhi/videos/252427492704214/

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