A cold or a flu? Feeling rotten? Aching, coughing, just generally under the weather? Since neither a cold nor a flu is easy to treat, knowing which respiratory virus is making you miserable seems pretty academic. But it is important. Flu can lead to the dangerous complication of pneumonia, while the complications of colds are typically milder infections of the sinuses. That's why you might want to use our handy-dandy chart to categorize your woes.

Is it a cold or the flu?
	Symptoms	Cold	Flu
	fever	rare	usually (up to 102-104 F) lasts 3-4 days
	headache	rare	ouch!
	general aches and pains	slight	usual
	fatigue, weakness	quite mild	can last 2-3 weeks
	extreme exhaustion	never	sometimes
	stuffy nose	common	sometimes
	sneezing	usual	sometimes
	sore throat	usual	common
	chest discomfort, cough	mild to moderate, hacking cough	common, can become severe

Data source: "Colds & Flu" in the bibliography.

If you're in good health, you're not likely to need a doc to treat most colds and flus. But if you develop warning signs of more serious illness, like persistent, localized problems in the lungs, throat or stomach, vomiting associated with influenza (which is not the so-called "stomach flu" or "intestinal flu"), or behavioral changes, get thee to a doctor. And remember that antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses, so they're not effective against cold or flu. If you overuse antibiotics, you will contribute to the problem of antibiotic resistance and you'll need to read a Why File on antibiotic resistance. By now, we bet you'd like to read up on some promising new weapons against the miserable flu virus.

There are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 documents.
Bibliography | Credits | Search