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Sequoit Media

The student news site of Antioch Community High School.

Sequoit Media

The student news site of Antioch Community High School.

Sequoit Media

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Identifying the Difference between COVID-19 and Influenza

With the flu season coming up, it will become increasingly difficult to discern COVID-19 from Influenza.
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Julia Maton
These different products show the similarites between Influenza and COVID-19.

Winter is quickly approaching, which many recognize to be flu season. Under ordinary circumstances, the upcoming flu season would not cause much anxiety. Combined with the increasing number of Coronavirus cases, however, it may be more difficult to tell the difference between them this year. 

There are few key differences between Influenza and the Coronavirus, as pointed out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most prominent being is a more severe impact of COVID-19 upon those who contract it, longer incubation periods, and a lack of vaccine. While the differences may help people identify their illness, the CDC draws attention to the various shared symptoms between the flu and COVID-19. For example, both can cause fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, etc. 

The differences are few and far between, so identifying one another from the symptoms alone may be quite difficult. Symptoms can cause immense confusion in navigating their sickness and deciding how officials should treat it. Nevertheless, people may treat this year’s flu season with increased caution compared to previous years. Symptoms may have to be taken more seriously by people to stay safe.

“I feel like, during the flu season, we can do a lot more,” junior Haleigh Zenoni said. “Nobody really worried about it, and it was just a second hand thought. Getting the flu is going to be a bigger deal than it normally would be. People are just going to think it is COVID-19.”

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Hypersensitivity of the public to flu-like symptoms may impact the schedule of regular winter events, whereas some may have brushed it off in previous years. An increase in safety precautions has also made people wanting to lower their chances of contracting the flu to avoid the confusion of identifying symptoms as COVID-19 or influenza. 

“This is the first time where I have made it a point to get my flu shot right away,” teacher Stephen Rose said. “I think because I’m taking the vitamin D supplement this year, that is going to help reduce my chances as well.”

Telling the difference between influenza and COVID-19 may be a difficult task when attempted without testing. People are taking precautions to stay safe throughout this flu season more rigorously than in previous years. It may not be possible to predict how people will navigate through the upcoming months, but abiding by guidelines and attempting to stop the spread of both viruses is all one can do.

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About the Contributors
Daylia Brock, Lifestyles Writing Editor
Daylia Brock is a senior at Antioch Community High School, has started her fourth year on staff and is Captain of the ACHS dance team. When she is not dancing, Brock can be found sleeping, volunteering on behalf of her involvement in the National Honors Society, thrifting an excessive amount of sweaters and earrings or getting a little too invested in the plot of "Criminal Minds".
Julia Maton, Lifestyles Writing Editor
Julia Maton is a senior and has been on staff for four years. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends, listening to music and spending too much money on Baja Blasts from Taco Bell. Maton is excited to see all the memories that room 263 brings this year.
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