Last week I suffered from the aforetitled and wondered what just might be ailing me. My sore throat woke me up in the middle of the night with intense, sharp pain and reminded me of stories I had read earlier this flu season about “razor blade” sore throat associated with the latest COVID strain, Nimbus.
Luckily I did have at an at-home COVID test, which returned a negative result. Though it expired in December 2025, I cannot see it turning bad one month later. Nevertheless, the possibility existed it could have been a false negative result. That then reminded me of an article I had read last month in the BBC comparing and contrasting the symptoms of the unholy trinity: COVID, the flu, and the common cold. It included this helpful graphic, especially so since my brain was so fuzzy thinking straight was more a chore.
For me it worked really well. I did have to scroll a bit on my laptop as the image runs long. That makes me wonder in hindsight if the icons needed to be as large or the text as big. Less space for the icons may have allowed the bottom row to fit all its text on two lines instead of the three, which could have allowed for shorter row heights.
I also enjoyed—if that is the proper word when one is shivering from the chills—the restrained palette. The red on the icons indicated the area of pain or symptoms and the intensity of the blue the frequency of the symptom to the culprit. Very clean, very clear.
So where did I fall? I checked off the boxes of fever, cough, fatigue, aches and pains, runny/stuffy nose, and sore throat. The fever and fatigue usually sell me on the flu. The at home negative test, for what it was worth, also makes me think I had a case of the flu. Luckily I had my flu vaccine back in October or else it perhaps could have been worse.
But here we are Monday and I am feeling significantly better. Just a slight sore throat and some stuffiness remains. Importantly, my mind is once more sharp and focused and I feel like I have energy once again.
Credit for the piece goes to the BBC graphics team.