covid test
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It is a sniffle, a tickle within the throat and a headache. Or a fever, congestion and fatigue.

May or not it’s COVID, the flu or RSV?

If you happen to’re unvaccinated, over the age of 65 or have underlying well being situations, you should not wait to search out out, mentioned Dr. David Weber, affiliate chief medical officer at UNC Medical Middle and medical director of UNC’s Division of An infection Prevention.

After Christmas and Hanukkah gatherings over the weekend, and as we’re gearing up for one more party-all-night vacation weekend for New 12 months’s Eve, Weber desires to make one factor clear: Ensure you’re getting examined.

“We at all times see surges in these viruses after the vacations. We did after Thanksgiving, and we are going to within the days after Christmas and New 12 months’s,” Weber mentioned in an interview. “We’ve therapies for COVID—the most important threat proper now—and for the flu. Ensure you know which virus you will have so you may get the fitting remedy.”

These therapies solely work in a brief window of time, and you do not wish to wait till that window’s expired.

May I’ve COVID, the flu or RSV?

The one approach to know for certain: Get examined.

Signs overlap for all three winter sicknesses (and there is a lot of all three going round, this season is named the “tripledemic”). It is sadly even attainable to have all three directly.

Testing might be an at-home antigen take a look at or PCR take a look at for COVID, or a 4-plex take a look at—which checks for all three ailments on the similar time—at your physician’s workplace.

“It is simple to say, “I am not house, I am simply visiting and my physician’s not right here, I will do it after I get house,'” Weber mentioned. “However when you wait a number of days and wind up getting worse, you are already previous the window for therapies to work.”

COVID, flu therapies

For one of the best outcomes, Weber mentioned, flu remedy ought to be taken inside two days of onset signs, and remedy for COVID-19 ought to be began inside 5 days. These therapies drastically lower the necessity for hospitalization and the chance of dying from the viruses.

Tamiflu (which treats influenza) and Paxlovid (which treats COVID) are tablets that require a prescription from a health care provider or pharmacist. Each are taken orally at house for 5 days. RSV does not have an FDA-approved remedy but.

“By the point you attain the age of fifty, there is a 50/50 likelihood you will have an underlying illness that places you at higher threat of hospitalization and dying from these viruses,” Weber mentioned. “To not scare folks, however to indicate how necessary it’s to take the time to get examined and get remedy.”

2022 The Charlotte Observer.

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Quotation:
It is further necessary to check after New 12 months’s gatherings, physician says. This is why (2022, December 30)
retrieved 30 December 2022
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