As adenovirus continues tearing its way through the world's population at unprecedented speed, experts are raising awareness of how the symptoms of this nasty infection differ from those found in 'common flu' cases.
In recent weeks, reports of adenovirus - in the UK especially - have sky-rocketed, possibly caused by the harsh winter weather kicking in some weeks earlier than expected.
Not only have their upper and lower respiratory tracts taken a severe beating as a result of the disease spreading, but several other organs are suffering, like their eyes, their gastrointestinal tract, and their kidneys.
Of how the virus is doing the rounds, Dr Deborah Lee at Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, told Cosmopolitan recently: "It is spread from breathing in infected aerosol droplets, by inadvertently rubbing the virus directly into the eye, or via the faecal-oral route (not handwashing after using the toilet).
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"It spreads rapidly in places where people are in close proximity."
Ian Budd, lead prescribing pharmacist at Chemist4U, also chimed in describing the condition as a 'fast spreading throat and respiratory bug', which is 'showing up more often alongside other winter bugs'.
"These viruses aren’t new," Budd explained. "But with multiple viruses circling right now, more people are noticing symptoms and heading to their GP."
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The issue is, he added, that some patients are overlooking their symptoms, putting them down to the common flu, despite adenovirus symptoms tending to last longer, and knock out patients to a more much severe degree.
Thankfully, however, Budd believes there are three key differences between adenovirus and the common flu that particularly vulnerable individuals should be keeping an eye out for.
What makes it different from the 'common flu'?
As we say, the reason why vast numbers of adenovirus patients are mistaking their symptoms to the common flu, is that the most common symptoms cross over - the likes of a fever, a runny nose, a sore throat, a cough, shortness of breath and enlarged cervical lymph nodes in the neck.
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In more serious cases, adenovirus patients could also endure conjunctivitis, ear pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, tummy pain, or a urinary tract infection.
"Those most at risk are babies and children under five, the elderly, pregnant women, and anyone who is immunocompromised," Dr Lee noted of the particularly vulnerable groups.
Despite this warning also being consistent in common flu cases, there are differences - three, apparently.
1) Fatigue
The majority of patients battling a common flu will endure serious fatigue and constant body aches - dull pains down their back, cramps down their legs, neck discomfort, and all those kind of ailments.
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In adenovirus, however, bodily exhaustion is rather rare.
"Compared to the flu, adenovirus infections typically cause less intense body aches and fatigue," Budd explained.
2) Pink eye
As we mentioned, in more severe cases of adenovirus, patients can suffer from issues surrounding their eyes. This could present as conjunctivitis, or pink eye - inflammation of the area characterised by grittiness, itching and watering.
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In cases of the flu, however, the eye is largely safe from harm.
3) Gastrointestinal issues
As we previously mentioned, adenovirus has been strongly linked to symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea, both of which are likely to result in more serious complications for vulnerable individuals.
Can anything else be used to tell the difference?
And finally, whilst this definitely isn't true of all cases, amount of time that a person remains unwell can prove an initial indicator of whether a person is suffering from adenovirus, or a common flu.
Whilst Dr Lee reminds us that the latter 'quite often' comes on 'suddenly, over a period of hours, with a high fever and [intense] symptoms', the former takes some weeks to emerge.
Rhianna Benson