It's cold and flu season here in Massachusetts and for the last five years we have to add COVID in that mix.

When it was still novel in early 2020, symptoms presented themselves a little differently than they do now. Cough, high fevers, headaches, shortness of breath, loss of taste and smell were all tell tale signs that you had the dreaded coronavirus!

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COVID is circulating in Massachusetts again; 2 symptoms not showing

The virus that causes COVID is so similar to flu-like or common cold like symptoms these days that it is difficult to differentiate the three. Some people still remain asymptomatic with COVID.

What symptoms aren't presenting are loss of taste and smell. These are the two Massachusetts residents are not experiencing with a COVID infection.

“I think the one thing we’re not seeing is... that loss of smell or taste that people often talked about early in the pandemic,” Nolt explained.

These symptoms haven’t been prevalent since early 2022 when the omicron variant came around, she added. -huffpost.com

Stomach bug also going around

I literally dread the stomach bug every year. The problem is that symptoms are acute, awful, and no meds help it besides drinking Gatorade really slowly.

If you hating vomiting, you're in trouble! Cases of norovirus, the pathogen that causes gastroenteritis, is once again affecting Massachusetts. The "winter vomiting bug" is wicked contagious, but usually lasts only 1-3 days.

Cases are up all over the U.S. with an increase over last year at this time.

'No Medicines' Help This Contagious Virus Hitting Mass.

“What’s tricky about norovirus is that there are no medicines that help and there are no treatments apart from hydration,” he said. “There’s nothing I would get from the pharmacy aisle in advance of an illness.

“Some of the symptomatic treatments like Imodium and anti-nausea medicine like Zofran tend not to be emphasized because the symptoms are relatively brief,” he went on. “As awful as they are, they tend to clear up after one, two or so days.” -nypost.com

The bug spikes normally in February and March, although you can catch it really anytime of year. Summer and the warmer months where people aren't confined indoors, cases tick down.

Kids usually bring it home! Norovirus cases affect 19-21 million people a year in the U.S. The virus is found in feces and vomit as well as surface contamination.

Symptoms

    • Vomiting
    • Diarrhea
    • Aches
    • Cramps
    • Low grade fever

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