What Is The Difference Between The Common Cold and The Flu

The Cold and the flu are both very common illnesses that affect people of all ages. Moreover, both colds and flu share many of the characteristics, one of the more common ones being that they are both caused by a virus. Both illnesses also tend to have a number of similar symptoms such as coughing and sore throat.. And although the general public susceptibility to them is especially abound in the winter, the viruses and bacteria that cause these illnesses are rampant around the year. Furthermore, both cold and flu viruses enter the body through the nose and mouth, whereupon they begin to invade the sinuses, throat and upper breathing tubes. Nevertheless, however, the similarity ends here, and it is essential to know the difference between cold and flu. The cold, for instance, can be the result of one or more of the over 200 different viruses that are capable of causing an infection within the respiratory tract. It would be noteworthy to here acknowledge that there is no way to treat a viral infection once it has infected a person in as much as infiltrating his/her immune system (s).

Getting down to the dissimilarities between the cold and the flu, it would be primarily relevant to consider that the usual symptom of common cold is a fever of around 100 F. Runny noses and prevalence among younger people are also common feature of colds. It is not, moreover, a serious sickness until and unless the person in question has an immunity deficiency; most healthy people can overcome these illnesses on their own. In And in the case of more serious cases, the symptoms can be treated quite easily with general drugs like decongestants to relieve congestion and antipyretics to decrease fever. The flu, on the other hand, can be quite a serious ailment, especially for aged people; it is imperative for doctors to examine such patients very carefully in the case of their being attacked by flu. The flu is typically caused by the influenza virus and is much more serious than the common cold. The specific gravity of a particular infection of the flu, however, depends of the particular strain of influenza that one has been affected by. The flu can affect the bronchial tubes and lungs, quite drastically in advanced cases. In addition to this, it is also far more highly contagious than the cold. It spreads through airborne droplets of moisture produced by coughs or sneezes. Symptoms of influenza/flu often start with unexpectedly high fever are sometimes accompanied by strong bouts of nausea and fatigue.

Some of the commonly encountered symptoms include irritation in the throat or lungs; high fever; shivering; a dry cough; muscle aches and sweating. It would be worthy of observation to here consider that the common cold typically tends to affects only the nose and throat. The most serious complication of the flu, however, tends to be pneumonia, a condition that can sometimes even be life threatening. Even more crucial is the fact that it tends to usually appear when a patient feels that he/she is recovering form the flu. Other serious problems are ear infection, bronchitis, chronic lung disease. The flu, however, is preventable in the case of people getting timely vaccinations. In addition to this, it is useful for people to remember to thoroughly wash their hands and to not touch their nose with your finger, in addition to avoiding close contact with cold patients.

It is important to one acknowledges that antibiotics are not necessary for the treatment of the common clod or flu as they [antibiotics] are specifically for infections caused by bacteria. Consequently, antibiotics don’t have any significant effects on viruses such as colds and flu.