It can be difficult to distinguish different respiratory viruses like coronavirus, swine flu and seasonal flu based on symptoms alone because they cause similar symptoms, according to the World Health Organization.
That is why only a laboratory test can confirm coronavirus.
The swine flu (H1N1) influenza pandemic of 2009 is thought to have infected 11–21 per cent of the world’s population.
It further resulted in between 151,000 and 575,400 deaths but had a case fatality rate of less than 0.1 per cent.
The signs and symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of infections caused by other flu strains and can include fever (but not always), cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, fatigue, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.
Flu symptoms develop about one to three days after you're exposed to the virus.
For confirmed coronavirus cases, reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death. Symptoms can include, fever, cough, shortness of breath.
Researchers say symptoms of coronavirus may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure.
Researchers say the death rate is around 2.3 per cent in mainland China and lower elsewhere.
Coronavirus has created more panic because very little is known about it because it's so new. This means the virus is something of a wild card in terms of how far it is projected to spread and how many deaths it will cause.
Doctors are still trying to understand the full picture of disease symptoms and severity.
Edited by R.Wamochie
