Winter and spring is the high incidence of colds, but affected by the epidemic, some patients suspect that they are infected with new crown pneumonia as long as they have fever, cough and other symptoms. This issue, we invited the PLA General Hospital, the first medical center respiratory director Xie Lixin and attending physician Xiao Kun, to talk about how to correctly distinguish between the common cold, influenza and new crown pneumonia. Reporter: What are the symptoms of the common cold, influenza and new crown pneumonia? Xiao Kun: the common cold is often referred to as a cold, also known as “cold”, generally triggered by cold, tired and other factors, mainly caused by common acute respiratory viral infections, such as rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, etc. Symptoms of nasal congestion, sneezing, sneezing, fever, coughing, headache, etc., physical strength, appetite, and more than no obvious impact. Rarely appear obvious headache, muscle pain and other general discomfort, symptoms are mild, most can be self-cured. The common cold usually has no obvious fever, even if the fever is generally low fever, usually 1-3 days can drop to normal, taking antipyretic medicine is effective. Influenza, or flu for short, is a respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus. Influenza viruses are categorized into three types: A (A), B (B) and C (C), and can be transmitted through droplets in the air, person-to-person contact, or contact with contaminated objects. Patients tend to present with fever, sore throat, runny nose, generalized pain, significant malaise and respiratory symptoms. Some patients may develop cough, high fever and even manifest pneumonia. The onset of influenza is characterized by a rapid onset and progression. Patients tend to have significant fever and often present with high fever, which can be effectively relieved by applying treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors targeting the surface of influenza virus particles. The majority of patients with influenza have relatively mild symptoms, while some are critically ill, and the elderly and patients with chronic underlying diseases have more severe symptoms. C.N.C.P. is an infectious disease, and patients with confirmed C.N.C.P. and asymptomatic infected persons are by far the main source of infection. The main modes of transmission are respiratory droplet transmission and close contact transmission. Clinically, the main manifestations are fever, dry cough, and malaise, and a few patients are accompanied by nasal congestion, runny nose, diarrhea and other symptoms. Mild patients only show low fever, malaise and so on, without pneumonia manifestation. Some infected patients have stable condition in the early stage, while severe patients have respiratory distress or hypoxemia after 1 week of illness, and the severe cases may rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, uncorrectable metabolic acidosis and coagulation dysfunction, or even secondary to serious complications such as multi-organ failure. The population is generally susceptible, most patients have a good prognosis. Reporter: common cold, influenza and new crown pneumonia, how to identify? Xiao Kun: through the previous symptoms can be identified initially. The common cold and influenza are mostly manifested as upper respiratory symptoms, some patients with influenza have pneumonia. New crown pneumonia is mainly manifested in the lower respiratory tract symptoms, more typical lung imaging. The common cold and influenza occur every year. The common cold can occur throughout the year, with no apparent seasonality, and is a common disease. Influenza can occur throughout the year, but the high incidence season is mainly in winter and spring. Influenza viruses mutate every year, and the viruses tend to be more virulent, contagious, and sick during the high prevalence season, and can spread within a certain area. New Crown Pneumonia is a recent winter illness in late 2019 with a typical epidemiologic history. For influenza, hospitals tend to test patients with nasal or throat swabs, including virus isolation and culture, antigen testing, nucleic acid testing, and serologic testing to clarify the diagnosis. New crown pneumonia is mainly combined with epidemiological history and clinical manifestations, with a positive nucleic acid test for new crown virus, or viral gene sequencing and known new crown virus highly homologous to confirm the diagnosis. Reporter: Do I have to go to the hospital when I have symptoms such as fever and cough? Can patients with common colds and influenza be reinfected with new coronavirus? Xie Lixin: If there is a fever, cough and other symptoms, it is recommended that the first self-assessment, such as whether the body temperature is more than 37.3 ℃, whether there is a persistent fever, whether there is dyspnea, weakness and other symptoms, family members at the same time onset of disease, and so on. If there is close contact with a patient with confirmed new coronary pneumonia, it is recommended to go for screening for any symptoms such as fever and cough. In early observation, isolation, separate use of tableware, attention to hygiene, disinfection of the room, daily monitoring of body temperature, if there is any abnormality in time to report to the community and health administrative departments, and go to the hospital. The phenomenon of mixed infection exists. It is possible for patients with new crown pneumonia to be infected with common cold and influenza at the same time, or for patients with common cold and influenza to be infected with new crown pneumonia at the same time. Mixed infections are more likely to occur in the elderly with comorbid chronic underlying diseases and in immunosuppressed patients. After being struck by the new crown pneumonia or influenza virus, these patients have further reduced immune function and increased susceptibility, and the risk and chance of co-infection with other respiratory viruses, bacteria, and fungal infections increases. Influenza viruses do not have the same strains as the novel coronavirus strains. Even with influenza vaccination, there is no preventive effect against the novel coronavirus and one may still be infected. Therefore, the flu vaccine in advance can not prevent the new coronavirus infection, usually still need to do a good job of protection, wear a mask, wash your hands, less go out, less gathering. Reporter: How to prevent colds and flu, in life need to pay attention to what aspects? Xie Lixin: In the high incidence of influenza, grass-roots officers and soldiers are mostly living in groups, improper prevention and control measures can easily lead to group influenza events. First of all, we must strengthen indoor ventilation, keep the indoor environment clean, and develop good health and personal protection habits; to avoid congregate meals, as far as possible to reduce the stay in crowded places, if you have to go to wear a mask; personal attention to the combination of work and rest, appropriate exercise, strengthen the physical fitness, to avoid the wind and cold. Officers and soldiers diagnosed with influenza should be isolated and treated according to regulations to cut off the source of infection. Elderly combined with chronic underlying diseases, immunocompromised people, to treat the original disease at the same time, active symptomatic supportive treatment, preferably in the influenza epidemic season before the influenza vaccination. Elderly patients with chronic underlying lung diseases are recommended to receive pneumonia vaccine to improve body immunity. The most important point is that respiratory infectious diseases should be “five early”, that is, early detection, early diagnosis, early reporting, early isolation, early treatment. Source: China Military Network