Dengue, Malaria or COVID-19: Know symptoms and how to differentiate among these 3 diseases

As monsoon season has arrived, the worries of infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue, which spread through mosquito bites, too. However, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes confusing for a person to understand, what he or she is infected with, as their symptoms are mostly the same. 

The cases of malaria and dengue rise during the monsoon season and can be fatal too. As the symptoms of these diseases overlap, here is how you can differentiate between the three:

Common symptoms of COVID-19, Dengue, and Malaria 

The three diseases, which are respiratory in nature and cause inflammation, however, COVID-19, Malaria and Dengue can cause fever, chills, cough, cold, sore throat, headache, fatigue, weakness, difficulty breathing, myalgia - all of which can happen in different ways. 

When infected with dengue, a person can have an extremely high fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pain, nausea, stomach ache and diarrhea. Dengue patients can also suffer from respiratory distress, nose and gum bleeding and a decrease in blood pressure that can sometimes result in shock.

If someone is infected with malaria, he may have fever, headaches, and chills. If these initial symptoms go untreated for 24 hours, the disease then progresses to severe illness and can also result in death. Children infected with malaria could suffer from severe anemia, respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis, cerebral malaria.

How to differentiate between these three?

- When infected with COVID-19, people suffer from loss of smell and taste. 

- In COVID-19, the person sees signs of inflammation in the upper respiratory tract, such as cough, change in voice, irritation in the throat. These symptoms are not common in Dengue and malaria. 

- In COVID-19, gastrointestinal symptoms are not common. 

- Breathlessness, chest pain, or breathing issues are not common in Dengue and Malaria.

- Dengue and malaria often start with headaches or weakness, which is not common when a person is exposed to COVID-19. 

- While COVID-19 symptoms show up as early as 2-3 days after contraction, dengue and malaria have longer onset periods, as late as 22-25 days.