Every Flu is not Coronavirus- Addressing Seasonal Influenza & Infectious Diseases with Virtual Consultation

COVID-19 pandemic infecting millions worldwide can be increasingly challenging for healthcare providers who on priority are addressing to the calls of Coronavirus infected patients. Add to it the ongoing seasonal Flu season that usually leads to a spike in face to face consultations. To curb the cold & flu rush, medical providers are turning to telemedicine to diagnose and treat patients remotely through technology-aided virtual consultation.

Time is a crucial element in diagnosis and consultation. When a patient shows any signs of an infectious disease or cold and flu, they typically need to be treated within two days from getting sick. Meeting a physician in-person at their clinic among other patients may not seem a good idea for many patients for the risk of Coronavirus infectivity. Many people get confused between Coronavirus and Seasonal Flu, both of which are respiratory infections, here is how Influenza differs from COVID-19

How does Influenza differ from COVID-19?

Seasonal Influenza, cold, and flu has often been compared and confused with the deadly coronavirus. COVID-19 is not flu, it is deadlier with very high transmission and death rate than the seasonal flu.

Here are the key differences between the seasonal flu and Coronavirus, which you must know-

Symptoms	COVID-19	Influenza	Common Cold
Incubation Time	2-14 Days	1-4 Days	1-4 Days
Cough	(Dry Cough)- Common	Abrupt	Gradual
Shortness of Breath	Common	Sometimes	Mild
Fever	Common	Common	Rare
Fatigue	Common	Common	Rare
Runny Nose	Sometimes	Sometimes	Common
Nasal Congestion	Sometimes	Sometimes	Common
Diarrhoea	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rare
Body Pain/ Aches	Sometimes	Common	Rare
Sore Throat	Sometimes	Sometimes	Common
Headache	Sometimes	Common	Rare
Loss of Appetite	Sometimes	Common	Sometimes
Respiratory Troubles	Common	Sometimes	Sometimes
Loss of Taste and Smell	Sometimes	Sometimes	Rare
Diarrhoea	Sometimes	Rare	Rare
Conjunctivitis	Sometimes	Rare	Rare
Skin Rash, or Discolouration of Fingers or Toes	Sometimes	Rare	Rare
Chest pain or pressure	Common	Sometimes	Rare

Infectious Diseases and Tele-medicine Consultation

With the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, many of us are apprehensive to go for a face-to-face consultation. The use of technology-powered Telehealth solutions are becoming increasingly critical to the current health care delivery system. Even the WHO has urged patients to consult digital doctors via electronic channels during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Health care systems are stressing on telehealth technologies for a safe virtual consultation with distant specialists over a telecall or a video call. Tele-medicine consultation through an E-Healthcare app like Gigadocs enables digital doctors to perform high-tech patient monitoring without requiring them to leave their homes, it is less expensive and a more convenient care option.

For seasonal infectious, patients can safely consult their digital doctor on Gigadocs, a secure practice management software application over a video call. This gives patients access to prescriptive antiviral drugs within the stipulated time.

How effective is Virtual Consultation to Treat Infectious Diseases?

Virtual Consultation is an effective medium to treat Summer flu or infectious Diseases, where the risk of transmission is very high. Though some patients may have emergency healthcare needs, digital doctors and Medicare provides can use telemedicine to initially diagnose patients affected with flu typically looking for the common flu symptoms- cough and fever.

The onset of seasonal changes infects nearly everyone with a runny nose, cold, or a fever which is likely the flu. Consulting a digital doctor from one’s home thus is more effective, reducing the probability of cross infectivity.
Virtual consultation greatly reduces wait times for those seeking in-person care in these difficult times. In addition, it also eliminates considerable travel time for patients who are looking for a quick relief, which can be especially beneficial during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For effective treatment of infectious diseases, e-consultations and telemedicine are more preferred. People do not want to venture out to crowded healthcare facilities like clinics, hospitals, or pharmacies, etc. due to the fear of infections.

Seeking telemedicine consultation, infectious patients can stay home, reducing their chances of spreading the virus.

Spreading Infectious Diseases and Flu Awareness

The seasonal Flu season is not just about digitally diagnosing and treating patients who show cold and flu-like symptoms. Telemedicine consultations and digital doctors also educate patients on how they can protect themselves from getting infected with the Coronavirus virus in the first place. This includes basic hygiene tips like washing hands with a disinfectant soap for a minimum of 20 seconds, wearing a face mask while emergency shopping, sanitising hands with an alcohol-based sanitizer, not touching the eyes or mouth if the hands are not washed, and disinfecting regularly used surfaces, to avoid-

Sinus and Respiratory infections
Seasonal allergies, Cold and Flu
Redness and Eye irritation
Strains and sprains

Virtual Consultations go a long way, in educating users how they can prevent Coronavirus infection, what precautions should be taken by patients who are suffering from cardiovascular infection, asthma, high BP, or renal infection, considered to be a high-risk group to contract the Coronavirus.

Consulting an Infectious Diseases Specialist

While in personal consultation can be reserved for patients with complex healthcare needs, patients who are diagnosed with flu, seasonal allergies, cold, and cough can get all the care they need through a virtual consultation.
E-Healthcare apps help you to book a digital doctor for seasonal flu, toothaches, and more serious chronic infections. Gigadocs, an intelligent practice management E-Healthcare app available on the play store and app store, shares all what you need to know about telemedicine, like the different services offered and service delivery methods of Virtual Consultation and how does E-healthcare help you during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Book your digital appointment on the Gigadocs app-

Download the Gigadocs app.
Ensure the availability of a stable internet connection to book and virtually consult a digital doctor.
Go through the time slot and the availability of digital doctors that is convenient for you.
Book your virtual consultation appointment based on your doctor’s availability.
Give digital access to your digital doctor to view your electronic health records and vitals.
Gigadocs will share your appointment details and a reminder on the Gigadocs app downloaded on your phone
On the date of the digital consultation, if your doctor is not available, you can choose to consult digital doctors available online from a dedicated team of medical professionals registered on the Gigadocs app.

Benefits of the Gigadocs App-

Gigadocs is a complete healthcare solution built for your family’s healthcare requirements. Gigadocs enables you to-

Record your vitals on the Gigadocs app and share them live with your virtual consultants online.
Digitally store your healthcare records without the fear of losing them.
Access your digital prescriptions, from your home stored on the Gigadocs app.

Gigadocs helps Medical Practitioners to-