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true true

Do I Have Coronavirus? An Infectious Disease Specialist Explains Common Symptoms

By Bob Zaltsberg

Posted April 3, 2020

A stock image of a woman wearing a medical face mask.

Dr. Tom Hrisomalos said the first indications were that the main symptoms of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. (Pixabay)

Special Series

This story is part of our City Limits: Coronavirus series. We're answering your questions about the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on your life, your family and our community.

One questioner said he’d had chest pain and fever for a few hours but had gotten over them.

A Type 1 Diabetic had no fever but extreme fatigue, runny nose and headaches.

A third questioner said she and her spouse both had fever, cough, runny nose, chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and wheezing.

A fourth was coughing.

All asked City Limits whether they might have COVID-19, whether they needed to get tested and whether they should go to work. And they were just a few of several questioners with medical inquiries.

City Limits can’t dispense medical advice to individuals, but our team can provide information from the experts about symptoms and treatments in a more general sense.

Dr. Tom Hrisomalos, IU Health infectious disease specialist, said the first indications were that the main symptoms of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. The CDC still lists those as the symptoms and says they may appear two to 14 days after exposure. Hrisomalos says other symptoms can also accompany the disease.

“It fairly quickly became apparent that people had atypical symptoms – symptoms other than those,” Hrisomalos said on Noon Edition. The other symptoms included muscle pain, sore throat, nausea and diarrhea, he said, and some who carried the virus had no symptoms at all. But he also says if you have a stuffy nose or a runny nose, it’s likely a cold.

The CDC says to seek medical attention if you have trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to wake up, or bluish lips or face.

People also want to know about medicines and treatments.

“There is no FDA-approved treatment,” said Hrisomalos, “but there is some data … suggesting medicines which might be effective.” He said some drugs are being tested in labs and others have been used for other illnesses, such as a drug used for malaria.

But he said until they are tested, it’s not possible to say how effective they would be in treating the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, the FDA did give emergency approval to distribute millions of doses of the anti-malarial drugs to hospitals to attempt to relieve the acute respiratory symptoms of the disease and help the seriously ill infected patients recover.

According to numerous national reports on the emergency order, health experts warn the drugs have well-known side effects that could kill patients with certain pre-existing conditions.

For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page here.

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