During the winter, people often come down with a stuffy nose and sore throat. Viruses cause hundreds of millions of upper respiratory tract infections — also known as “colds” — every year. These viruses are most active during the months that make up the cold and flu season.
With this year’s tripledemic, a cold could mean that you get COVID-19, the flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). These viruses can make you sicker than a regular cold virus. So what’s the difference between COVID, the flu, and RSV? And how can you tell which you’ve got?
Let’s take a look at how your symptoms can give you an important clue.
First, her favorite doctor in Providence, R.I. retired. Then her other doctor, at a health center a few miles away, left the practice. Now, Piedad Fred has developed a new chronic condition: distrust in the American medical system.
Candy Murnion remembers vividly the event that pushed her to open her first day care business in Jordan, a town of fewer than 400 residents in a sea of grassland in eastern Montana.
Sometimes trying to be healthy feels like just another item on your endless, exhausting to-do list. Here on NPR’s health team, we don’t want to add to anyone’s stress. The good news is that it doesn’t take great feats of fitness or a heroic commitment to good habits to stay well. Often small changes can make a significant difference.
