Common Illnesses

*This information is designed to support and educate, but should not be used in the place of medical advice. Please see a medical provider to diagnose any illness and prescribe medications as needed.

Cold, Flu, COVID and Allergies     Urinary Tract Infections     Vaginitis

Cold, Flu, COVID, and Allergies

Symptom Checker: 🔴 Common 🟠 Sometimes 🟡 Rare

Symptoms	Coronavirus	Flu	Cold	Seasonal Allergies
Body Aches	🟠	🔴	🟠
Cough	🔴	🔴	🔴	🔴
Diarrhea	🟡
Fatigue	🔴	🔴	🟠	🟡
Fever	🔴	🔴	🟡
Headaches	🟠	🔴	🟠	🟠
Itchy or Watery Eyes	🟡			🔴
Loss of Smell or Taste	🟠		🟡
Nausea or Vomiting	🟠	🟠	🟡
Runny/Stuffy Nose	🟠	🟠	🔴	🔴
Shortness of Breath	🔴	🟠
Sneezing	🟡		🔴	🔴
Sore Throat	🟠	🟠	🔴	🟠

What to Expect

• If you have a viral infection (Coronavirus, flu, or cold), you can expect the symptoms to last from a few days to two weeks.
• If you have seasonal allergies, you can expect the symptoms to improve with medications, but symptoms can continue throughout allergy season.

Treatment

Viral infections:

• Flu and COVID-19: There are antiviral medications that can help decrease the length of illness. 
• Cold: there are no targeted antiviral medications because of the range of viruses that can cause colds
• Symptom relief: there are medications (many of them over-the-counter) that can help you with improving your symptoms. These include:
  • Pain relief or fever-reducing medications 
  • Cough suppressants
  • Mucus relief
  • Decongestants
• Rest and fluids: your immune system is working to fight off the virus. Give it time and proper support to do its job!

Allergies:

• Medications can help, such as:
  • Antihistamines
  • Nasal sprays
  • Eye drops

When to follow up

• If you have severe symptoms (especially if you suspect the flu)
• If you have fever >102 degrees F (39 degrees C), that does not respond to fever-reducing medications
• If you have difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• If your symptoms last longer than 7-10 days

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

Symptoms

• Pain with urination, needing to urinate more often, feeling like you can’t empty your bladder fully, lower abdominal pain or discomfort, cloudy or foul-smelling urine, blood in urine, nausea

Testing

• Urine test to detect the presence of bacteria

Treatment

• Antibiotics by mouth
• Medication to relieve pain and discomfort

When to follow up

• See a medical provider to diagnose the illness and prescribe medications
• No improvement in symptoms after taking antibiotics for 48-72 hours
• Symptoms include fever, chills, lower back pain

Vaginitis

Symptoms

• Vaginitis can be different types of infections, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), bacterial vaginosis, yeast or trichomonas
• Symptoms can include abnormal vaginal discharge, foul odor, irritation or discomfort of vaginal or genital area, lower abdominal or pelvic pain, pain with intercourse

Testing

• Sometimes these infections may resolve on their own or can be treated with over-the-counter (OTC) medications
• A medical provider may require the following:
  • Genital exam
  • Urine testing
  • Vaginal swab

Treatment

• Determined based on the cause of the infection. It could be:
  • Antifungal treatment, by mouth or vaginal cream
  • Antibiotic treatment, by mouth or vaginal gel
  • Antiparasitic treatment, by mouth or vaginal gel

When to follow up

• If symptoms are moderate to severe or last longer than 7 days with OTC treatment
• If you saw a medical provider and there is no improvement in symptoms or symptoms worsen after taking treatment

 

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