Fact : Common Cold differs from a Flu.
Most often you'd find a lot of people mistake a flu for common cold or vice versa. In fact, many (including myself at a point) have thought the two to be the same.
In this article, I'll be presenting my fact findings on common cold and Flu.
First, I'll like to establish that you can't really fault anyone for not knowing there's a difference between a flu and a common cold. This is because both of them are quite similar in so many ways.
It can be hard to tell whether you have a cold or the flu since they both present similar symptoms.
Symptoms like Sneezing, runny or
Stuffy nose and cough are common to both.
In the same light, they're both more widespread during the colder months and affect the upper respiratory tract. These make it even more difficult to tell them apart.
Also, they both are contagious and are spread through similar routes. By contact with infected persons or surfaces and also airborne and all that.
However, there are marked differences between both illnesses.
One of such differences, that might not be so conspicuous, is the fact that they're caused by different viruses.
They are both caused by viruses but while a common cold is mostly caused by rhinovirus, a flu is caused by influenza virus with influenza B being most common.
Another difference that is more conspicuous is the difference in some symptoms they present.
In a flu for example, you're most likely to come down with a fever, muscle aches and chills but these are less common with a common cold.
Moreso, a cold is a milder respiratory illness than the flu. While Cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few days, flu symptoms can last from days to weeks. A Cold can be over within a few days but a flu can result in serious health complications such as pneumonia.