The symptoms of CORONAVIRUS are very similar, if not identical, to those of SEASONAL FLU, but the order in which they occur could be FUNDAMENTAL to distinguish the two “diseases”. Being able to identify the differences between the various pathologies can therefore favor the early recognition of Covid-19 and, in this regard, the researchers have developed a model to determine what the temporal order is.
To arrive at the most likely timeline, the researchers used data from the World Health Organization (WHO) relating to over 55,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in China and compared the order of appearance of symptoms with that of thousands of seasonal influenza cases collected by the University of Michigan, of nearly 150 cases of SARS recorded in the Toronto area and of 45 cases of MERS reported in South Korea.
What are the FIRST SYMPTOMS, in order, among those affected by COVID-19?
It starts with FEVER, and then progresses with COUGH and MUSCLE PAIN, followed by NAUSEA and / or VOMIT and, finally, DIARREA. Seasonal flu, on the other hand, begins with COUGH followed by fever. “We found evidence to support the contention that there is a more common order of discernible symptoms of Covid-19 than that of other major respiratory diseases,” commented Joseph Larsen, researcher in computational biology and bioinformatics and first author of the study. Knowing that each disease progresses differently means doctors can more quickly identify whether that infection is due to Sars-Cov-2 or other viruses and can help make the best treatment decisions. ”
The researchers also evaluated other symptoms of Covid-19, such as sore throat, headache and fatigue, but the order of the four most likely initial symptoms (fever, cough, body aches, nausea / vomiting, diarrhea) did not change.