Virus combo: how to differentiate dengue, Covid, influenza and rotavirus?

In recent months, Brazil has been facing a dengue epidemic. Since January, more than 3.5 million probable cases of the disease have been recorded and there are more than 1,600 confirmed deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. With the arrival of autumn, respiratory diseases, which are common at this time, Influenza and Covid-19 cases are also rising.

Knowing how to differentiate the symptoms of dengue, Covid-19, influenza and rotavirus is important for diagnosis. Both diseases have similar signs, but there are divergent characteristics in each of them.

Dengue, Covid, Influenza and Rotavirus: what are the differences?

Making this distinction is essential for treatment, as there are medications that are contraindicated in the case of dengue, which can cause the infection to progress to serious cases.

According to the infectologist at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Mirian Dal Ben, all these diseases, dengue, Covid, influenza and rota, present symptoms that are common, but there are some that can differentiate: “Covid and influenza usually cause a cough, a blocked nose, that dengue and rotavirus do not. Sometimes influenza can give you diarrhea, Covid too. But a much more important situation of diarrhea, we end up thinking more about rotavirus or dengue. But, in the end, we end up doing tests to be able to differentiate one thing from another”, explains the infectious disease specialist.

According to the Ministry of Health, the main symptoms of Covid-19 are:

• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose
• Loss of taste
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle pain
• Tiredness
• Headache

The symptoms of dengue are:

• Abdominal pain
• Persistent vomiting
• High fever (39°C to 40°C)
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Pain behind the eyes
• Malaise
• Red spots

Influenza Symptoms:

• Cough
• Body ache
• Headache
• Fever
• Sore throat

Rotavirus Symptoms:

• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Dehydration

Furthermore, dengue fever can, in more serious cases, lead to severe abdominal pain, bleeding in the mucous membranes, a drop in blood pressure and hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver). These are characteristics of dengue hemorrhagic fever, the most serious condition of the disease.

Knowing how to identify the symptoms of each disease can help differentiate the diagnosis, but confirmation is only done through laboratory tests.

Target audience for diseases

These diseases can affect all age groups, but some groups are more susceptible to developing serious infections and complications that can lead to death.

“Immunosuppressed patients with some immunity problem, the elderly, young children, especially those under 2 years of age, are always at risk for any of these four diseases. And there are some specific risk groups, so we know, for example, that obese patients, pregnant women, are a risk group for influenza and Covid, dengue fever too, pregnant women are a risk group. So, obesity, especially for influenza and Covid, smokers too, but, in general, the common risk group for them all is the elderly, immunocompromised people and young children, people with comorbidities”, explains Mirian.