COVID, Flu, or Allergies? Confusion Grows on Campus

Exterior view of Lafene Health Center under a clear blue sky. Courtesy: Ashley Olds

Listen to the full audio story - COVID, Flu, or Allergies? Confusion Grows on Campus By. Ashley Olds

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Is it the flu, COVID-19, or just allergies? These are all questions that students and faculty at Kansas State University might be asking themselves when they first get sick.

Since the pandemic first began in 2020, Lafene Health Center has seen a change in covid rates.

“In 2020 and 2021, the rates were very, very high,” Dr. Michael Campbell, medical director at Lafene Health Center, said. “While we still see fairly high numbers, the severity is not the same, especially for our generally healthy college population.”

Dr. Campbell has also noted that a lot of students were testing positive for covid at the beginning of this semester.

“We saw a lot of people with COVID the first two or three weeks of classes starting,” he said. “Then after four or five weeks after classes started, the numbers were very low.”

Considering that a lot has changed since the pandemic began, it’s important that students still get tested regularly when they’re sick.

“Early on in the pandemic, there were not many tests available. K-State was one of the few sites in Kansas that had PCR testing available and helped the Kansas Department of Health”

When Rylan Nelson, a senior in accounting, got sick recently, he initially believed that he had covid due to the symptoms he faced.

“I mainly felt very congested. I had a lot of drainage, headaches, body aches, and it was hard for me to actually just get out of bed,” Nelson said. “I had a sore throat, runny nose, and all that stuff.”

Whenever students start feeling sick, it can have an impact on their daily lives, including going to classes.

“Thankfully it didn't affect me a whole lot,” he said. “I did have to miss some class time, since I had to go to my tax class and I tried to go, and all of a sudden, I didn’t feel great and so I left.”

Nelson tested negative for covid, but soon discovered that he had bronchitis.

“It was a really quick turn around from one diagnosis to what it really was,” he said.

Dr. Campbell explained that there are many students who have symptoms that mirror those of COVID, which makes it hard to tell the difference between other respiratory illnesses.

“I would say nowadays, a lot of people that do end up having COVID think that it's allergies or think that it's cold symptoms,” Dr. Campbell said.

Students have become more knowledgeable and are more health-conscious after the pandemic.

“I'd say students are as knowledgeable as anybody else in the community outside of the student population too,” Dr. Campbell began. “But it is hard to tell the differences sometimes so we try to guide them on things that are more likely to be one or the other, but at the end of the day, the testing helps us the most.”