Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

The key difference between coronavirus and cold symptoms is that coronavirus symptoms especially COVID 19 symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath while common cold symptoms start with fatigue, a feeling of being chilled, sneezing, and a headache, followed in a couple of days by a runny nose and cough.

Coronavirus is a type of virus that causes the common cold. Hence, it is really difficult to differentiate coronavirus symptoms with symptoms of the common cold. However, COVID 19 and other severe acute respiratory syndromes caused by certain strains of coronavirus can be distinguished from the common cold by their differences in the symptoms. COVID-19 symptoms appear 2 to 14 days after exposure while common cold symptoms appear within the first two to three days of infection.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Coronavirus Symptoms
3. What are Cold Symptoms
4. Similarities Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms
5. Side by Side Comparison – Coronavirus vs Cold Symptoms in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What are Coronavirus Symptoms?

COVID 19 or coronavirus disease 19 is caused by a novel species of coronavirus named SARS-CoV2. Currently, Covid 19 is a global health problem. It is spreading all over the world, with 276,638 infected individuals and 11,419 deaths as of 21. 03. 2020. The main symptoms of COVID 19 include:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Shortness of breath

These symptoms may arise two to fourteen days after exposure to SARS-CoV2. However, this disease can end up with complications such as pneumonia, kidney failure and death.

Although the disease can affect people of any age group and any ethnicity, elderly adults and people with underlying health issues, such as heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes, are at greater risk of severe illness from COVID 19.

It is utmost important to prevent exposure to this new coronavirus. The following simple precautions can help you to keep yourself healthy and stop the spread of disease:

• Wash your hands frequently with an alcohol or soap, for at least 20 seconds
• Avoid touching your nose, eyes and mouth with your hand
• Stay at home if you are sick
• Cover your sneeze or cough with a tissue, and throw the tissue to a dustbin

What are Cold Symptoms?

Common cold or cold is a viral infection that affects the upper respiratory tract, mainly the nose. It also can affect throat, sinuses, and larynx. Generally, after two days of exposure, cold symptoms appear. Common symptoms include coughing, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, headache, and fever. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the symptoms of the common cold include sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, post-nasal drip, watery eyes and possibly a fever.

Usually, people recover from cold within seven to ten days. Sometimes, it can last up to three weeks. The cold can develop into pneumonia conditions under several health conditions. Different viruses can cause the common cold. Among them, rhinovirus is considered as the most common virus that causes cold. Other viruses are human coronavirus, influenza viruses, adenoviruses, human respiratory syncytial virus, enteroviruses, human parainfluenza viruses, and human metapneumovirus.

What are the Similarities Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms?

• Coronavirus and cold symptoms are more or less the same.
• Both coronavirus diseases and cold can end up with pneumonia.

What is the Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms?

The key difference between coronavirus and cold symptoms is that symptoms of coronavirus, especially COVID 19, include fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. Meanwhile, common cold symptoms start with fatigue, a feeling of being chilled, sneezing, and a headache, followed in a couple of days by a runny nose and cough.

Moreover, COVID-19 symptoms appear 2 to 14 days after exposure while common cold symptoms appear within the first two to three days of infection. So, this is another difference between coronavirus and cold symptoms.

Summary – Coronavirus vs Cold Symptoms

The symptoms of novel coronavirus infection or COVID 19 include fever, tiredness, dry cough, and shortness of breath. In contrast, symptoms of the common cold include sneezing, stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, post-nasal drip, watery eyes, etc. The symptoms appear in two to fourteen days of exposure to SARS-CoV2 while the symptoms of common cold appear after two to three days of exposure. So, this summarizes the key difference between coronavirus and cold symptoms.

Reference:

1. Miller, Korin. “Coronavirus Symptoms Are Pretty Similar To Cold And Flu Symptoms.” Women’s Health, Women’s Health, 13 Mar. 2020, Available here.
2. “Common Cold.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Mar. 2020, Available here.
3. “Key Facts – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Mar. 2020, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019”  By Mikael Häggström, M.D.- Author info- Reusing images – Own work, CC0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Rhinovirus” By Robin S assumed – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims) (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia