非常時(shí)期,是不是家人咳嗽一聲,都會讓你高度緊張?當(dāng)出現(xiàn)癥狀時(shí),我們怎么才能分辨是感冒、流感還是新冠肺炎?什么情況才應(yīng)該去做核酸檢測或者去治療呢?這些都是醫(yī)生和病人當(dāng)前最關(guān)心的問題。
美國家庭醫(yī)生學(xué)會會長加里·勒羅伊指出:“目前有三種主要病毒在共同流行。”它們的癥狀是相似的,但它們的嚴(yán)重程度有高有低。
那么最危險(xiǎn)的是誰?我們的應(yīng)對方法為什么要有這么大的區(qū)別?
熟悉的敵人
由新型冠狀病毒引起的COVID-19型肺炎是一種癥狀類似流感的疾病,死于新冠肺炎的人數(shù),其實(shí)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比不上每年死于流感的人數(shù)。在新冠肺炎疫情爆發(fā)的前四個(gè)月里,新冠病毒大約導(dǎo)致了4300人死亡。而根據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織的數(shù)據(jù),全球死于流感的人數(shù)每年都在29萬人到65萬人之間。
這種對比似乎會讓一部分人感到寬慰,畢竟流感是一個(gè)“熟悉的敵人”。特朗普也經(jīng)常拿這個(gè)問題說事,他在一條推特里指出很多美國人死于流感,并表示:“什么也沒有關(guān)閉,生活和經(jīng)濟(jì)都在繼續(xù)……想一想吧!”
不過在公共衛(wèi)生專家看來,流感帶來的大量死亡人數(shù),恰恰說明了有必要對新冠肺炎采取超常的措施,以避免這種病毒廣泛傳播。
一年一度的流感爆發(fā)是無法阻止的,因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)根深蒂固地存在人類社會中。然而在研究新冠肺炎治療方法的同時(shí),我們還是有機(jī)會限制或減緩新冠肺炎的傳播的。
新冠肺炎和流感的致命性有多高?
流感的致死率大約在千分之一左右,但每年仍有數(shù)十萬人死于流感,因?yàn)榱鞲械母腥救巳和詳?shù)千萬計(jì)。
目前,科研人員仍在試圖了解新冠肺炎的致命程度。新冠肺炎的準(zhǔn)確致死率尚不明確,因?yàn)橐咔楸l(fā)早期的病例往往是最嚴(yán)重的,此外,很多輕癥或無癥狀患者并未得到檢測。個(gè)別情況下,由于醫(yī)院人滿為患,一些危重癥患者也沒有得到足夠的醫(yī)療資源。目前,從已確診病例看,各地報(bào)告的致死率從不足1%到4%左右不等,不同地區(qū)間存在差異。
大多數(shù)新冠肺炎感染者會出現(xiàn)輕度或中度癥狀,然后在大約兩周后康復(fù)。
我得的是新冠還是流感?
普通感冒、流感和新冠肺炎有一些相似癥狀,不過癥狀的強(qiáng)度以及發(fā)病的方式卻可以提供一些區(qū)分的線索。醫(yī)生在一天之內(nèi)就可以檢測出流感,但目前在美國要想做新冠肺炎檢測,卻是一件很不容易的事。
美國家庭醫(yī)生學(xué)會會長加里·勒羅伊是俄亥俄州代頓市的萊特州立大學(xué)的一名副院長,也是一名家庭醫(yī)學(xué)博士。他表示,人們經(jīng)常會懷疑自己得了感冒,因?yàn)槌赡耆似骄磕陼脙纱胃忻啊?/p>
他表示:“普通感冒發(fā)病時(shí)通常伴有喉嚨腫痛、咳嗽、流鼻涕和鼻塞等癥狀。”而即便有發(fā)燒癥狀,通常也不會太嚴(yán)重。
而耶魯紐黑文衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)指出,流感的癥狀一般更加強(qiáng)烈,而且通常是突然出現(xiàn)的,癥狀包括高燒(38度以上)、極度疲倦、肌肉或身體疼痛、干咳、發(fā)冷等。
勒羅伊表示:“得流感的感覺就像被一輛巴士撞上了一樣?!蹦阍缟掀鸫哺杏X還好,但到了下午就難受得不行。
據(jù)美國疾控中心介紹,流感的癥狀包括流鼻涕、鼻塞、頭痛,有可能伴有嘔吐或腹瀉,不過后兩種癥狀在兒童中更加常見。
據(jù)世衛(wèi)組織介紹,新冠肺炎的癥狀可能出現(xiàn)得更慢一些。其癥狀有發(fā)燒、干咳以及明顯的呼吸困難等,少部分病例會發(fā)展成肺炎。另外,老年人或患有高血壓、肥胖、糖尿病、心臟病等慢性病的人更容易發(fā)展成重癥。
一項(xiàng)針對中國住院患者的研究顯示,大約半數(shù)的患者在收治入院時(shí)并未發(fā)燒,但幾乎所有患者后來都出現(xiàn)了發(fā)燒癥狀。
人在美國,中招了怎么辦?
美國的官方建議是,不要直接去醫(yī)院看醫(yī)生,那樣只會讓更多的人感染。應(yīng)該提前打電話,詢問是否你是否應(yīng)該就診,以及應(yīng)該去哪就診。
勒羅伊表示,“如果你出現(xiàn)了發(fā)燒、咳嗽和明顯的呼吸困難,特別是如果你最近曾經(jīng)出門旅行過,或是接觸過有新冠肺炎感染風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的人,就應(yīng)該及時(shí)就醫(yī)?!?/p>
上周,美國疾控中心的蘇伊·格伯醫(yī)生曾在一次電話會議上對醫(yī)生們指出:“應(yīng)該鼓勵(lì)輕癥病人待在家里。出現(xiàn)呼吸困難的患者應(yīng)該尋求治療,老人或有其他疾病的患者在病程早期就應(yīng)該聯(lián)系他們的醫(yī)生?!?/p>
如何避免中招?
要想保護(hù)自己,首先要勤洗手、仔細(xì)洗手,不要用手摸你的臉,遠(yuǎn)離人群密集場所,不要與別人站得太近。
流感和新冠病毒還有一個(gè)很大的區(qū)別——流感是有疫苗的,現(xiàn)在去接種還不晚。它無法預(yù)防新冠病毒,但一個(gè)健康的身體對于你預(yù)防新冠肺炎也是有幫助的。
勒羅伊表示:“就算你可能要感染新冠病毒,你也不想在免疫力低下的時(shí)候?qū)顾!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:隋遠(yuǎn)洙
非常時(shí)期,是不是家人咳嗽一聲,都會讓你高度緊張?當(dāng)出現(xiàn)癥狀時(shí),我們怎么才能分辨是感冒、流感還是新冠肺炎?什么情況才應(yīng)該去做核酸檢測或者去治療呢?這些都是醫(yī)生和病人當(dāng)前最關(guān)心的問題。
美國家庭醫(yī)生學(xué)會會長加里·勒羅伊指出:“目前有三種主要病毒在共同流行。”它們的癥狀是相似的,但它們的嚴(yán)重程度有高有低。
那么最危險(xiǎn)的是誰?我們的應(yīng)對方法為什么要有這么大的區(qū)別?
熟悉的敵人
由新型冠狀病毒引起的COVID-19型肺炎是一種癥狀類似流感的疾病,死于新冠肺炎的人數(shù),其實(shí)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)比不上每年死于流感的人數(shù)。在新冠肺炎疫情爆發(fā)的前四個(gè)月里,新冠病毒大約導(dǎo)致了4300人死亡。而根據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織的數(shù)據(jù),全球死于流感的人數(shù)每年都在29萬人到65萬人之間。
這種對比似乎會讓一部分人感到寬慰,畢竟流感是一個(gè)“熟悉的敵人”。特朗普也經(jīng)常拿這個(gè)問題說事,他在一條推特里指出很多美國人死于流感,并表示:“什么也沒有關(guān)閉,生活和經(jīng)濟(jì)都在繼續(xù)……想一想吧!”
不過在公共衛(wèi)生專家看來,流感帶來的大量死亡人數(shù),恰恰說明了有必要對新冠肺炎采取超常的措施,以避免這種病毒廣泛傳播。
一年一度的流感爆發(fā)是無法阻止的,因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)根深蒂固地存在人類社會中。然而在研究新冠肺炎治療方法的同時(shí),我們還是有機(jī)會限制或減緩新冠肺炎的傳播的。
新冠肺炎和流感的致命性有多高?
流感的致死率大約在千分之一左右,但每年仍有數(shù)十萬人死于流感,因?yàn)榱鞲械母腥救巳和詳?shù)千萬計(jì)。
目前,科研人員仍在試圖了解新冠肺炎的致命程度。新冠肺炎的準(zhǔn)確致死率尚不明確,因?yàn)橐咔楸l(fā)早期的病例往往是最嚴(yán)重的,此外,很多輕癥或無癥狀患者并未得到檢測。個(gè)別情況下,由于醫(yī)院人滿為患,一些危重癥患者也沒有得到足夠的醫(yī)療資源。目前,從已確診病例看,各地報(bào)告的致死率從不足1%到4%左右不等,不同地區(qū)間存在差異。
大多數(shù)新冠肺炎感染者會出現(xiàn)輕度或中度癥狀,然后在大約兩周后康復(fù)。
我得的是新冠還是流感?
普通感冒、流感和新冠肺炎有一些相似癥狀,不過癥狀的強(qiáng)度以及發(fā)病的方式卻可以提供一些區(qū)分的線索。醫(yī)生在一天之內(nèi)就可以檢測出流感,但目前在美國要想做新冠肺炎檢測,卻是一件很不容易的事。
美國家庭醫(yī)生學(xué)會會長加里·勒羅伊是俄亥俄州代頓市的萊特州立大學(xué)的一名副院長,也是一名家庭醫(yī)學(xué)博士。他表示,人們經(jīng)常會懷疑自己得了感冒,因?yàn)槌赡耆似骄磕陼脙纱胃忻啊?/p>
他表示:“普通感冒發(fā)病時(shí)通常伴有喉嚨腫痛、咳嗽、流鼻涕和鼻塞等癥狀?!倍幢阌邪l(fā)燒癥狀,通常也不會太嚴(yán)重。
而耶魯紐黑文衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)指出,流感的癥狀一般更加強(qiáng)烈,而且通常是突然出現(xiàn)的,癥狀包括高燒(38度以上)、極度疲倦、肌肉或身體疼痛、干咳、發(fā)冷等。
勒羅伊表示:“得流感的感覺就像被一輛巴士撞上了一樣?!蹦阍缟掀鸫哺杏X還好,但到了下午就難受得不行。
據(jù)美國疾控中心介紹,流感的癥狀包括流鼻涕、鼻塞、頭痛,有可能伴有嘔吐或腹瀉,不過后兩種癥狀在兒童中更加常見。
據(jù)世衛(wèi)組織介紹,新冠肺炎的癥狀可能出現(xiàn)得更慢一些。其癥狀有發(fā)燒、干咳以及明顯的呼吸困難等,少部分病例會發(fā)展成肺炎。另外,老年人或患有高血壓、肥胖、糖尿病、心臟病等慢性病的人更容易發(fā)展成重癥。
一項(xiàng)針對中國住院患者的研究顯示,大約半數(shù)的患者在收治入院時(shí)并未發(fā)燒,但幾乎所有患者后來都出現(xiàn)了發(fā)燒癥狀。
人在美國,中招了怎么辦?
美國的官方建議是,不要直接去醫(yī)院看醫(yī)生,那樣只會讓更多的人感染。應(yīng)該提前打電話,詢問是否你是否應(yīng)該就診,以及應(yīng)該去哪就診。
勒羅伊表示,“如果你出現(xiàn)了發(fā)燒、咳嗽和明顯的呼吸困難,特別是如果你最近曾經(jīng)出門旅行過,或是接觸過有新冠肺炎感染風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的人,就應(yīng)該及時(shí)就醫(yī)?!?/p>
上周,美國疾控中心的蘇伊·格伯醫(yī)生曾在一次電話會議上對醫(yī)生們指出:“應(yīng)該鼓勵(lì)輕癥病人待在家里。出現(xiàn)呼吸困難的患者應(yīng)該尋求治療,老人或有其他疾病的患者在病程早期就應(yīng)該聯(lián)系他們的醫(yī)生?!?/p>
如何避免中招?
要想保護(hù)自己,首先要勤洗手、仔細(xì)洗手,不要用手摸你的臉,遠(yuǎn)離人群密集場所,不要與別人站得太近。
流感和新冠病毒還有一個(gè)很大的區(qū)別——流感是有疫苗的,現(xiàn)在去接種還不晚。它無法預(yù)防新冠病毒,但一個(gè)健康的身體對于你預(yù)防新冠肺炎也是有幫助的。
勒羅伊表示:“就算你可能要感染新冠病毒,你也不想在免疫力低下的時(shí)候?qū)顾!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:隋遠(yuǎn)洙
Is it the flu, a cold or the new coronavirus? Patients and doctors alike are parsing signs of illness to figure out who needs what tests or care and how worried they should be.
"You have three different major viruses floating around at the same time," causing somewhat similar symptoms—but different levels of concern, said Dr. Gary LeRoy, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
So what's the biggest danger? And why are we responding to them so differently?
Familiar foe
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is a flu-like illness that has killed a small fraction of the number of people that the flu kills every year. Through the first four months of the outbreak, coronavirus has killed about 4,300 people. Flu kills 290,000 to 650,000 every year around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
To some, that comparison seems comforting because flu is such a familiar foe. President Donald Trump regularly brings it up, noting in a tweet how many more Americans die from flu and adding, “Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on ... Think about that!"
But to public health experts, the huge number of flu deaths is exactly why extraordinary steps should be taken to try to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading widely.
The flu's annual return can't be stopped because it's already so embedded in the population. There is still a chance COVID-19 cases can be limited or spread slowed while treatments are developed.
How deadly are coronavirus and the flu?
Flu kills about 0.1% of those it infects, but that's still hundreds of thousands of people each year because it infects millions.
Researchers are still trying to understand just how deadly the new coronavirus is. The mortality rate from infection with the virus isn't known yet because the cases caught in an early part of an outbreak are often the most severe, people with mild or no symptoms aren't being tested, and sometimes overwhelmed hospitals struggle to care for the sickest patients. Various reports have estimated the fatality rate from less than 1% to as high as 4% among cases diagnosed so far, depending on location.
Most people infected by the new coronavirus develop mild or moderate symptoms and recover after about two weeks.
So what do I have: Coronavirus or the flu?
Flu, cold and coronavirus often share certain symptoms, but differences in intensity and how they appear can offer clues to which one is causing the misery. Doctors can test for the flu and get results within a day, but coronavirus testing is still limited by availability in the United States.
Colds are often suspected because adults get about two on average each year, said LeRoy, a family medicine doctor and associate dean at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
"The common cold just starts out with a sore or scratchy throat, cough, runny nose, stuffy nose" and any fever is usually mild, he said.
Flu symptoms are more intense and usually come on suddenly, the Yale New Haven Health System advises. They can include a high fever (over 100.5 degrees), extreme exhaustion, muscle or body aches, a dry cough and chills.
"It really hits you like a bus," and people may start a day well but feel terrible by afternoon, LeRoy said.
Flu symptoms can include a runny or stuffy nose, headaches and possibly vomiting or diarrhea, though the latter two are more common in children than adults, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear more slowly. They usually include fever, a dry cough and noticeable shortness of breath, according to the World Health Organization. A minority of cases develop pneumonia, and the disease is especially worrisome for the elderly and those with other medical problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or heart conditions.
One study of hospitalized patients in China found that about half did not have a fever when they were admitted but nearly all developed one.
What to do if you're sick
Don't go straight to your doctor's office—that just risks making more people sick, officials urge. Call ahead, and ask if you need to be seen and where.
Fever, cough and noticeable shortness of breath—"if you have those three components, especially if it's associated with some recent travel or someone you know who's been exposed to COVID-19, those things should prompt you to call for medical attention," LeRoy said.
“Mildly ill patients should be encouraged to stay home,” the CDC's Dr. Sue Gerber told doctors on a conference call last week. People having difficulty breathing should seek care, and older people or those with other conditionsshould contact their doctors early in the course of illness, she said.
How to prevent getting sick
To protect yourself, wash your hands well and often, keep them away from your face, and avoid crowds and standing close to people.
There's one big difference between flu and coronavirus: A vaccine exists to help prevent the flu and it's not too late to get it. It won't protect you from catching the coronavirus, but may put you in a better position to fight it.
"You don't want to have a compromised immune system if you were to encounter coronavirus," LeRoy said.