Blue Memo

  COVID-19: What Is It, What Are the Symptoms, and What Should We Do If We Get Infected? COVID-19 may no longer dominate the news the way it did during the pandemic, but it has not disappeared. Recently, COVID-19 infections have been increasing again in many places, reminding us that the virus is still part of our lives. For some people, the infection may feel like a mild cold or flu. For others, however, it can be much more uncomfortable and exhausting. I recently experienced COVID-19 myself, and one of the most difficult parts of the illness was not necessarily the fever or respiratory symptoms. It was the severe muscle aches and back pain that stayed with me for quite a long time. In this post, I would like to talk about what COVID-19 actually is, its common symptoms, how we can prevent infection, what to do if we become infected, and finally, my own personal experience with the illness. What Is COVID-19? COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The viru...

  Cold vs. Flu: What I Learned After Mistaking One for the Other Introduction For many years, I thought a cold and the flu were simply different names for the same illness. Whenever I had a runny nose, a sore throat, or a fever during the colder months, I would casually say, “I caught a bad cold.” I never paid much attention to the differences between the two because most of my illnesses eventually improved after a few days of rest. However, that belief changed after I experienced what I later realized was probably the flu. The symptoms were not just stronger than a normal cold—they appeared differently, progressed faster, and affected my entire body. That experience taught me that recognizing the difference between a cold and the flu is important, not only for recovery but also for knowing when to slow down and take better care of myself. This article shares what I learned from my experience, the key differences between the common cold and influenza, and the practical habits that ...