With autumn coming to life and temperatures falling, the influence knocks on the doors of the Italians. In the week from 8 to 14 November, the incidence of the influenza virus reached 4.2 cases per thousand assisted, a value more than double compared to the same period of the 2019 season, the last pre-pandemic. Most affected are children under the age of five, according to what emerges from the weekly report on the monitoring of flu-like symptoms carried out by the InfluNet surveillance network of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
Flu: the symptoms
The simultaneous presence of Covid alerts anyone who presents a minimum symptom that unites the two viruses. The influence of the 2021-22 season brings with it the classic feeling of malaise, accompanied by exhaustion, joint and muscle pain. Symptoms also include high fever, respiratory problems and gastrointestinal upset that can last up to three days. The fever, on the other hand, can last up to 10 days in those more fragile subjects.
Influence and Covid: the differences
There are similarities between influenza and Covid but also profound differences. In the case of Covid we often find ourselves in the presence of a strong dry cough while the flu is characterized by a fat cough. The flu virus also appears a few days after the infection while for a positive Sars-cov2 one must wait up to 14 days. The latter often causes loss of taste and smell, symptoms that do not characterize the flu. Finally, as previously mentioned, the flu this year causes gastrointestinal disorders that very rarely occur in the case of Covid infection.
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