Doctors admit they can’t tell Covid apart from allergies or the common cold anymore – highlighting how mild virus has become

Doctors say Covid patients are increasingly difficult to distinguish from those suffering from allergies or the common cold.

The most common symptoms of the virus are now a sore throat, sneezing or congestion, just like RSV, asthma or pollen allergies.

By comparison, in the early stages of the pandemic, Covid had very different symptoms, such as a dry cough and loss of sense of smell or taste.

Dr. Erick Eiting, vice president of emergency medicine operations at Mount Sinai in New York City, which was hit hard during the pandemic, said virtually all of the Covid patients in the hospital right now were “really mild.” “.

Covid hospitalizations are increasing, but there is little information available about the severity of the illness suffered by these individuals.

Covid deaths have also increased slightly, although they are coming off record lows.

Dr. Eiting said NBC News: ‘Almost (all the Covid patients) I’ve seen have had really mild symptoms.

“The only way we knew it was Covid was because we were testing them.”

He added: ‘It doesn’t (cause) the same typical symptoms that we saw before. It’s a lot of congestion, sometimes sneezing and usually a slight sore throat.

Covid can also cause fever, headaches, fatigue and cough, but they are becoming less common.

Dr. Michael Daignault, an emergency physician in California, added: “Especially since July, when this recent mini-surge started, younger people who have upper respiratory symptoms… 99 percent of the time they come back home with supportive care.

By upper respiratory symptoms he meant cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, and chills.

Doctors say Covid has become much milder now because almost all Americans now have immunity to it from vaccination or prior infection.

New variants have also emerged that appear to have made the virus more infectious but less deadly.

Official data shows Covid hospitalizations are rising across the country, having increased by almost nine per cent in the last week to September 2. Currently, a total of 18,800 people are admitted with Covid each week, which is equivalent to 2,700 per day.

But they are rising from record lows and deaths remain low.

There were 860 Covid deaths across the United States in the last week to August 26, about 4.5 percent more in a week.

No sign of a flu resurgence yet, although the CDC warns of a surge later this year

There are warning signs that RSV infections are starting to increase

Indicators suggest that RSV infections are also starting to increase, although there is no sign yet of a rebound in flu cases.

It comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that a tripledemic of Covid, flu and RSV could hit the United States this winter.

In a statement, they said flu activity, while currently low, was “likely to increase during the fall and winter.”

And for the first time, people can get vaccinated against all three viruses, something public health officials are urging to do to avoid another tripledemic like last year, when hospitals were flooded.

Doctors hope enough people will be vaccinated to help avoid another “tripledemic” like last year, when hospitals were overwhelmed by an early flu season, an onslaught of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, and another winter coronavirus surge.