Is It A Cold Or The Flu?

By: Melody Dizon

 

Dropping temperatures are already here. People are more indoors, people are sneezing, coughing or calling off work. Sounds like the theme for the flu months. I often get this question a lot. How do I know if I have the flu or just the common cold? What medications should I stay? Should I stay home and not go to school or work? Allow me to dissect it for you so we are able to approach the flu season fully armed.

You have a virus, but is it a cold or flu? Both have some symptoms in common, so it’s hard to tell them apart. Treatment options can vary slightly, so it’s useful to know which illness you’re fighting in order to get better faster.

How to tell the difference between flu and common cold Sore throat, runny nose and cough are all symptoms shared by colds and flu. Some notable differences include fever, body aches and vomiting, which are common to a flu but rare or nonexistent in colds. Here are a few indications to watch out for:

Cold
• Onset – gradual and mild
• Exhaustion – no
• Fatigue and weakness – sometimes
• Sore throat – usually one of the first symptoms
• Fever – none or mild fever not more than 101 degrees

Fahrenheit
• Headache – occasionally
• Nasal discharge – starts watery then thickens after several days
• Cough – often begins four or five days after onset
• Muscle aches and soreness – rarely
• Vomiting and diarrhea – no
• Duration – about a week. Anything longer may be a bacterial
infection or allergies.

Flu
• Onset – rapid and more severe
• Exhaustion – common in the beginning
• Fatigue and weakness – yes, for two to three weeks
• Sore throat – sometimes
• Fever – usually 102 degrees Fahrenheit or higher that lasts for three or four days
• Headache – often
• Nasal discharge – sometimes
• Cough – common, can get worse
• Muscle aches and soreness – common, can be severe
• Vomiting and diarrhea – common
• Duration – two to seven days

Treatment and prevention

Minimize your chance of catching viruses by avoiding those who are already sick. Stay home. Wash your hands often and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; they’re easy access points for germs to enter your body. Get a yearly flu vaccine. Bolster your immune system by caring for your health with a healthy diet, proper sleep and exercise.

If you caught a cold or the flu, there are treatment options available. The treatment for both viruses is similar and mainly involves managing symptoms so that you can rest. Recovery strategies include:

• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Get adequate rest.
• Sleep with your head elevated to breathe easier.
• Blow your nose.
• Gargle with salt water.
• Take over-the-counter medication like acetaminophen for pain relief.
• Clear congestion with a steamy shower.
• Drink tea with honey for sore throat and cough.
• Ask your doctor about antiviral flu medication.(i.e. Theraflu – does not eliminate the virus but shortens the time of being sick)

When to see a doctor for a virus

Most of the time, a cold or the flu goes away on its own after a week or so. Sometimes, however, there are conditions or complications that need a doctor’s care. Signs you should see your doctor include:

• Chest pain or pressure
• Breathing difficulties
• Prolonged fever for several days
• Chronic vomiting
• Severe pain when swallowing
• Lingering cough, congestion, or headache
• Coughing up blood
• Confusion
• Facial pain
• Neck pain or stiffness

Some patients I know reach for antibiotics rather quickly. I will always say, try first home remedies to manage symptoms. Allow your body to fight back. If it is a virus, antibtioics will not help. A virus has to run its course and all you can really do is treat the symptoms or follow suggestions above. Much has been written about over usage of antibiotics.

I hear my doctor tell me, just gargle with warm water and salt. Put your feet up. Drink tea with honey and before I was like, that’s it? You are not prescribing me any antibiotics? She says no. Then I asked one of the Infectious Disease Doctors where I used to work at and he told me that the overuse of antibiotics, especially taking antibiotics even when it is not the appropriate treatment, promotes antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics treat bacterial infections but not viral infections. In the United States, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2 million people annually “acquire serious infections with bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics designed to treat those infections.” And at least 23,000 people die annually from antibiotic-resistant infections.

So flu is flu, and cold is cold. There are varying degrees of treatment and antibiotics is not one of them. Fluids, fluids, fluids. Rest rest, rest. That’s all folks!##