What's the defense's between a cold and flu?

Question

I think I have a cold, I have a headache, body aches, score thoart. And my ears pop, But they pop everytime I get sick anyways, but i'm not sure what med. I should get. PLEASE HELP???

Answer 1

Flu : you have fever for 3 days +, muscle pain, general weakness, even vomiting, think you will actually die

cold: slight fever, sore troath, sniffing and sneezing, little cough and teary eyes.

There are no real medicine given for cold, just rest, taking decongestant to help you sleep more confortably (not exceeding 3 consecutive days), and drink a lot of water to replace body fluids.

For flu there are antivirals available, tamiflu & relenza, but you have to take them at the beginning, or they dont work.

Answer 2

The only difference between a cold and the flu is your temperature. A cold has a low grade fever, whereas the flu has a fever of 100 degrees or more. The treatment is the same: pain reliever (motrin, tylenol, etc.), throat spray, lots of tissues, rest and fluids. Antibiotics won't do you any good because a cold and the flu are viruses, not bacterial infections. If your fever goes above 102 or symptoms don't get better within 3 days, see a doctor.

Hope you feel better.

Answer 3

This is the CDC website about the difference:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/coldflu.htm

Because both colds and flu are caused by viruses, which are not affected by antibiotics, it is useless to get a prescription for antibiotics, which only work on bacterial infections. (If you get a secondary bacterial infection, you may need antibiotics for that.)

Generally you treat both colds and flu symptomatically: you take aspirin or Tylenol for fever, a decongestant for congestion of the sinuses or to dry up a post-nasal drip, and a cough suppressant for coughing. You drink lots and lots of clear fluids to help thin the discharges and generally take it easy as long as you're feeling bad.

A zinc-containing nasal spray and/or zinc-containing throat lozenges may shorten the duration or ease the severity of a cold, and in the case of flu, something like Tamiflu (a prescription anti-viral medication) may help, but only if started immediately upon onset of symptoms.

Nasal decongestant sprays or menthol inhalers may help to ease the feeling of stuffiness caused by a cold, but do nothing to shorten the duration.

Generally a cold will resolve itself within a week or ten days. Any symptoms persisting after that may be caused by a secondary infection and should send you to a doctor to see if that is a problem.

Personally, I've always found really good chicken soup and orange juice to drink is about as good as anything you can get at the drugstore for "curing" a cold. And a nightcap of some strong cough syrup at night to promote sleep.

Answer 4

A 'cold' generally implies a viral upper respiratory infection for which medications are only of benefit if directed at specific symptoms and these are typically over the counter so you need not rush to the physician. Influenza is a viral upper respiratory infection but of a more severe and serious variety and indeed influenza is so overwhelming that if you had this you would likely be too weak to be online. For others who may be well but who have not received the influenza vaccine there is still plenty of time so use this person's misery to your gain. That having been said Sydoras I sincerely hope that you get to feeling well soon and Happy Holidays.

Answer 5

A cold is basically a form of flu.

The term influenze is applied to a virilent manefestation that occurs in a cyclic period. Colds happen all the time and are mild.

And, they also seem to defeate the motif of Genetics and Evolution as we don't seem to build an imunity resistance to them!

Answer 6

Drink lots of vitamin c and garlic. Garlic seams to do the trick for me!