This Is A General Question About Ncov-19. I Am A

Posted on Thu, 19 Mar 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 Answered on

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Question : This is a general question about ncov-19. I am a 24 year old male who has a certain degree of health anxiety. I am currently in the Netherlands and am forced to travel back to my home country of Greece in a few days because of the pandemic. Right now, I have a sore throat, general fatigue, a dry and productive cough and for the last couple of days have been coughing up thick brown mucus. I have a sensitive respiratory system and used to be a light smoker (1/2 cigarettes every other day) until 2 weeks ago when I decided to stop completely. I would take a ventolin inhaler several times the night after smoking since I would cough and would be breathless and unable to sleep due to a combination of these symptoms and anxiety. I had to take ventolin before when I got sick and found it hard to breathe. In these occasions I had a serious wheeze and chest tightness. However, I have not been properly diagnosed with asthma. I have been diagnosed with chronic allergic sinusitis. Since a week a go I have been noticing myself getting weaker - up to a threshold - getting chills and coughing. I have had no fever throughout this period. So far I have been trying to eat healthy, eat immune boosting foods, rinse my sinuses, stay hydrated etc.
My questions are the following.
What is my likely condition at the moment - should I consider a ncov - 19 test?
What is the likelihood if a really bad infection scenario for ncov - 19? Am I a high risk group?
Does my described scenario indicate asthma? Why do I need ventolin when I get ill with a bad cold or flu?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You should get tested further...

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service...
I've gone through your query in detail...

Coming directly to your queries:

What is my likely condition at the moment - should I consider an nCOV-19 test?

Well, at this outset, it'd be fair to recommend that you should get tested for Covid-19... However, the thick brown mucus is definitely alarming (not necessarily Covid-19), as it needs to be tested for bacterial/viral infection as well as the presence of any occult blood (Sputum culture and microscopy should clarify this)...

What is the likelihood of a really bad infection scenario for nCOV-19? Am I a high-risk group?

You should stop smoking altogether, there's no safe limit as such...stop it completely, if you're still smoking at all...yes, there's a higher risk (although not exclusive to covid-19 but a lot of other infections and lung inflammations) given the past and present details you've provided...

Does my described scenario indicate asthma? Why do I need Ventolin when I get ill with a bad cold or flu?

This is inconclusive to say so...first of all, you need to have fresh Chest X-ray and lung Spirometry investigation for further assessment...based on their results as well as your clinical findings (what the Chest physician would elicit) the proper diagnosis can be made...

Please don't worry, but it's recommended that you should get checked up by a Pulmonologist/Chest Physician for this thoroughly...

Let me know if I can assist you further...

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee