It can often be hard to tell whether you or a loved one has a cold, flu or COVID but understanding the differences can help us, help you, get the right treatment quickly.

The flu, COVID-19 and the common cold have very similar symptoms but each is caused by a different virus. The flu is caused by the influenza virus, COVID is caused a Coronavirus called SARS-CoV2 but the cold may be caused by a number of viruses. All of them are highly contagious. In general, flu symptoms have more severe body aches than the common cold and tends to hit you all of sudden. Cold symptoms usually come on more slowly over several day. COVID has a much wider range of symptoms, it can be mild like a cold or severe like a flu. The most distinguishing feature is loss of smell or taste, but is not present in everyone who has it. COVID is more commonly associated with diarrhea and vomiting. Flu's rarely have diarrhea or vomiting in adults and cold never do.

The one thing you can do is prevent a cold, flu or COVID by taking a few common sense precautions. Your number one line of defense against these illnesses is to wash your hands. It can also be helpful to take care of your immune system. You might consider making lifestyle changes that support your immune system or eating immunity boosting foods or taking supplements.