Flu season is on the way — right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both illnesses have similar symptoms, which means it could be hard to distinguish one from the other.
Researchers are only starting to learn how early symptoms of COVID-19 and the seasonal flu can be differentiated in children.
New research published in JAMA Network OpenTrusted Source by a team out of Children’s National Hospital found there were no significant differences in hospitalization rates, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or ventilator use in children with the flu or COVID-19.
Researchers were surprised to learn that more people with COVID-19 than the flu reported fever, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, body ache, or chest pain when they were diagnosed.
With flu season expected to start in October, parents could soon be trying to decipher if a sick child has the seasonal flu or signs of COVID-19 that could necessitate quarantine or a trip to the doctor’s office.
Here’s what to look for when trying to decide if a child has the flu or COVID-19.
Flu vs. COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source recently released guidance on the differences between the flu and COVID-19.
“While COVID-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, COVID-19 is more contagious among certain populations and age groups than flu,” the organization states.
The report found that the time it takes for symptoms to appear between exposure and an infection, as well as how long the virus spreads, differs between the flu and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“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 continuous spreading among people as time progresses,” according to the CDC website.
“As pediatricians, we are concerned that the actual impact of COVID in children still remains to be defined,” said Dr. Flor M. Munoz-Rivas, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Experts are emphatic that the impact of COVID-19 on children should not be minimized or based on data when children were sheltered at home, not going to school, and not being exposed to other people or viruses.
“This winter season will provide us with the opportunity to assess such impact. This is because even though social distancing and other measures of control of COVID remain in place, the population in general is returning to more ‘normal’ activities and control measures are not consistently applied,” Munoz-Rivas said.
Munoz-Rivas added that we don’t know what will happen if we see widespread cases of both influenza and COVID-19 this fall and winter.
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