If we think of respiratory diseases and we try to associate them with a certain time of the year, we are likely to think of the colder months. However, summer is also the time for these types of ailments, especially if we are exposed to significant temperature changes, situations of humidity and drafts… or the extreme cold generated by an air conditioner. regulated to cool above what is advised. It is here that colds, pharyngitis, laryngitis occur… diseases which, today, coexist with covid, which also mutates the symptoms. This is why it is important to learn to distinguish them in order to take the appropriate measures. Take note of the differences between covid symptoms and air conditioning pharyngitis.
Covid or air conditioning pharyngitis? to be able to tell them apart
The more abrupt the temperature changes to which we are exposed, the more the probability of have a respiratory disease, as is the case with pharyngitis. It’s a summer classic that, to this day, coexists with Covid. Especially in years like this, marked by the succession of heat waves and the abuse of air conditioning, attacks on our respiratory tract become frequent.
The first thing is prevention and therefore, as the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Cervicofacial Surgery (SEORL-CCC), It is important to avoid using the air conditioning for long hours and at a temperature below the recommended temperature: we must always move within a comfortable range, around 21 degrees. If there is a time of day when the use of air conditioning is particularly harmful, it’s definitely night. Also, it is important avoid exposure to these direct currents, especially with wet hair or if we sweat. It is also advisable to use humidifiers to compensate for the increased dryness of the air.
In any case, and given the coincidence of summer with a new wave of Covid infections, it is important to learn how to distinguish the two diseases: In both cases there is the sore throatbut there are key differences that can help you clearly determine which picture you are facing.
So the symptoms of pharyngitis They include inflammation or irritation of the pharynx, difficulty swallowing, fever, malaise, redness of the pharynx, the presence of whitish or grayish plaques, pain when swallowing saliva or food, swollen and painful cervical lymph nodes… These symptoms are very different from those of Covid: sore throat is present in this disease, but most often to a lesser extent, being generally more benign than in the case of pharyngitis.
It should be remembered that the most common symptoms with newer variants in case of covid they are fever, dry cough, fatigue, sore throat, muscle aches and runny nose. Some distinctive symptoms of Covid (although they do not always appear) are the loss of smell and/or taste (very common in Covid) or the presence of vomiting or diarrhea (in this case it is is a more occasional symptom, but little associated with pharyngitis). In addition, Covid symptoms generally appear between two and 14 days after exposure to the virus.