All of Germany is sick. After the corona cases, the flu and RSV infections in particular are now increasing. Here’s everything you need to know about the most common symptoms.
Cough, runny nose, sore throat – many people complain about cold symptoms in the winter months. But a corona infection is not always behind it. Influenza pathogens in particular are currently spreading, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) now explains in its new weekly report.
Most such infections that led to a doctor’s visit were recently caused by influenza viruses (55 percent) and human respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV, 15 percent). Experts only found the corona virus in five percent of the samples examined, writes the RKI.
We explain how the pathogens differ.
Influenza viruses cause the flu.
Symptoms: While the symptoms of a cold are similar to those of a corona infection, there are major differences to those of a flu infection. According to the BZgA, the flu (influenza) manifests itself
The following symptoms could also occur:
Signs of illness such as
Incubation period: According to the RKI, the incubation period is short and averages just one to two days.
Duration and contagion: The disease usually lasts five to seven days, the RKI further explains. In patients with a severe course of the disease, however, deterioration often occurs about three to ten days after the onset of symptoms. Older people are particularly affected. According to the BzgA, flu patients are contagious up to a week after the first signs of illness appear.
Respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV) are among the most important pathogens of respiratory infections in infants, especially in premature babies and small children, writes the RKI.
Symptoms: RSV infections are similar to influenza in terms of symptoms. In infants, however, it can manifest itself as a
to express.
Around five percent also develop whooping cough-like symptoms. Fever is also common.
Incubation period: The incubation period is two to eight days (an average of five days).
Duration and infection: “RSV-infected people can be infectious just one day after infection and before the onset of symptoms,” writes the RKI. The duration of the contagiousness is usually three to eight days and usually subsides within a week in immunocompetent patients. However, premature babies, newborns, immunodeficient or immunosuppressed patients could shed the virus for several weeks, in individual cases for months.
Sars-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2) was identified as the cause of Covid-19 in early 2020 and triggered a global pandemic.
Symptoms: The most common symptoms are according to the RKI profile
The RKI also lists shortness of breath, headache and body aches, loss of appetite, weight loss, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea as other symptoms. According to initial findings, infections with the virus variant Omicron are more frequently associated with a sore throat and less frequently with loss of taste or smell than infections with Delta.
Incubation period: After being infected with the coronavirus, it takes an average of four to six days for the first signs of the disease to develop. Depending on the virus variant, however, this period of time can also be shorter. With the omicron variant, it is around 3 days.
Duration and contagion: The main transmission route for Sars-CoV-2 is the absorption of the virus-containing particles through breathing. Sick people emit the particles when they breathe, cough, speak, sing and sneeze. According to the current state of knowledge, in the case of a mild to moderate illness, the contagion recedes within ten days of the onset of symptoms. In the case of severe disease progression and patients with immunodeficiency, it can be significantly longer.
Important: Corona cannot be distinguished solely on the basis of the symptoms and should be clarified with a corona test .
