COVID or Flu? A Quick Biology Lesson

(Click photos to enlarge)

 

Location of sialic acid (flu) receptors in the body.





Location of ACE-2 (COVID) receptors in the body.

For anyone wondering how a "respiratory virus" can cause such widespread and baffling symptoms, the reason is simple:  COVID never was a "respiratory virus" to begin with.  In addition to its horrific immune-suppressing effects, COVID attaches to receptors located in practically every organ system of the body, which means it can cause symptoms in any of those systems.  Influenza attaches to totally different receptors located primarily in the throat and lungs. 

COVID's onset is typically 3-6 days after exposure, and symptoms generally last up to 2 weeks (or longer with Long COVID).  Symptoms can creep up gradually and may be anywhere from nearly asymptomatic (like mild allergies) to severe, and they often get better and worse in "waves".  Flu, on the other hand, hits hard and fast with severe fatigue, full-body muscle aches and respiratory symptoms like coughing and sneezing.  Symptoms can be quite similar for some, but influenza is NOT associated with changes in taste or smell.  COVID is also far more infectious (contagious) than influenza, and that aspect is getting worse with each mutation.  

The R-naught value of a virus is the number of people one sick person is likely to infect.  Here are the R0 values for COVID and flu:

R0 values for influenza:  1.2 to 1.8

R0 values for COVID (Omicron strain):  9.5


To make it plain:  if someone has influenza of any strain, they're likely to infect, at most, 2 other people.  If they have COVID, they're likely to infect NINE others. 

Some of those infected may not have severe symptoms immediately, but COVID causes changes to the body that increase a person's risk of heart attack and stroke (among other things) for months or years after infection--even totally asymptomatic ones.  Influenza shares this trait, but because it's less infectious it doesn't pose as big a threat as COVID, which generally surges twice per year and may have multiple strains circulating at once, like the Nimbus and Stratus variants.  Flu peaks in the winter months and generally only has one strain per year. 

That means if a person catches COVID twice per year 6 months apart, their risk of severe complications stays elevated the entire year.  Studies show immunity to COVID only lasts only 3-4 months after severe infection, which is a disturbingly short period of time.  And if two different strains (like Delta and Omicron) are going around at the same time, you may be reinfected in even less than 3-4 months. Unfortunately, immunity from the vaccine doesn't last any longer.  

There's a lot more than can be said of COVID's effects on viral reactivation in the body (primarily herpesviruses like zoster & Epstein-Barr), immunosuppression and even things like cancer, but I wanted to keep this simple so I'll stop here. 🦠  But click those blue (red?) links to learn more about those aspects of the virus from actually reliable sources.

It should go without saying, but mask up indoors when COVID is surging and get your annual booster for COVID and flu, especially if you're over 65 or have any other health issues (obesity, Type II diabetes, lung diseases like COPD, etc).  These measures may not prevent illness entirely, but they will reduce the severity and duration of illness, keeping you out of the hospital for severe complications like pneumonia or ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome).  

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