Do you know how to differentiate cold from flu?
The flu and the coldare different diseases, although at the popular level these terms are used interchangeably. In this article we present the main differences between the flu and the cold, to put an end to the confusion that exists about these common infectious diseases.
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What distinguishes a cold from a flu?
There are many similarities between the flu and colds. Both are viral diseases of the respiratory tract, whose causes tend to mutate quickly, making it difficult to create preventive vaccines for these ailments. It is natural that in the face of these diseases of such similar pictures, there is some confusion regarding the specific characteristics of each one.
To end this, here are 13 differences between the flu and the cold. This list will not only help you differentiate these diseases, butyou will learn several interesting characteristics of each. Start:
General differences
Here are listed some of the differences between catarrh and flu, without entering into their clinical manifestations.
1. Causative agents
Both flu and colds are caused by virus infections, small intracellular parasites that use the cellular machinery of their victims to be able to reproduce, since they cannot do it on their own.
In the case of colds, the vast majority are caused by the action of rhinoviruses, a fairly diverse class of enteroviruses, with several different strains capable of causing this disease. The flu is caused by the influenza virus, of which there are about three main varieties capable of infecting us.
Interestingly, the Influenzavirus is also capable of causing us a cold , but the Rhinoviruses are not capable of causing us to have a flu-like illness.
2. Infective frequency
The large number of different serotypes of Rhinovirus, in addition to its extremely high capacity to mutate and its speed at the time of doing so, mean that the average adult contracts between 4 and 6 colds annually, while children can suffer about 8 colds per year from half. This is partly because there are about 200 different types of viruses capable of giving us a cold.
The flu, luckily, affects us less frequently. In fact, “barely” 20% of adults get the flu each year , globally. Despite the high mutability of the Influenza virus, there are not so many types of virus that can cause us the flu, so it is less common to get it.
3. Seasonality
Due to the high variety in terms of viruses that cause colds , we can suffer from this disease at any time of the year. In the warm months, such as spring or summer, they are sometimes confused with seasonal allergies, but it is usually a normal season for cold infections.
The flu usually appears mainly in the colder months , in late autumn and winter. In both hemispheres, the flu commonly occurs during the cold months, while in Ecuador the disease occurs at any time of the year, as there are no seasons.
4. Vaccines
As many of you know, there are annual flu vaccines . They need to be annual due to the mutagenic capacity of the flu virus, capable of changing enough from year to year that our immune system is not able to detect it and activate its effective specific defenses, acquired during the last flu infection. These vaccines protect against the 3 or 4 varieties of Influenza that are believed to affect that year.
There is no vaccine against the cold . It would be possible to create it, but taking into account that there are more than 200 types of virus that cause colds, its usefulness would be very limited. In addition, the cold is usually a fairly benign disease, although annoying, which does not usually put the lives of those affected at risk.
5. Hazard
Influenza also has a high mutagenic capacity . Every year, virology experts carefully study the trends and characteristics of the most active influenza viruses at the moment, to predict the danger of the infection and the serotypes causing it, in order to create effective vaccines.
The flu is often seen as mostly harmless, but we must not forget about its ability to become a lethal disease . In addition to its dangerous effects on people with previous respiratory problems, cases such as the Spanish flu of 1918, or influenza A in 2009 and 2010, are examples of the danger that flu viruses contain. We never know when such a dangerous flu will appear again, but we must be vigilant.
Differences in symptoms
Both diseases are due to a viral infection of the respiratory tract , but there are differences in the severity and manifestation of their symptoms, which make them different diseases. Here we explain how to differentiate a cold from the flu based on its symptoms.
6. Fever
One of the main symptom-level differences between the flu and a cold is that the flu usually causes a high or moderate fever . In cases of cold it is rare to observe a fever, and if there is, it will be in most cases a small rise in temperature, also known as low-grade fever.
7. Appearance
The onset of cold symptoms is quite gradual . This means that you can slowly assume that yes, indeed, you have caught a cold and you are going to have to put up with its symptoms. The symptoms usually appear over 2 or 3 days, after which they do not tend to increase in intensity.
The flu, on the other hand , has a very short incubation period , which in some cases does not even reach 24 hours after exposure to the virus. This means that, if you contract the flu, your symptoms would occur very abruptly, experiencing, among other things, fever and extreme tiredness, which we will not observe in the cold.
8. Muscle and joint pain
Another of the most characteristic symptoms of the flu, which help to differentiate it from a stroke, are the typical muscle or joint pains that appear with this disease. They are very rare during a cold, and are due to the action of the immune system, which releases inflammatory substances to fight the infection.
9. Chills
Chills are common with the flu, but rare with a cold . This is because they are a disorder related to changes in temperature, like those we experience during a fever. Being the most common fever in flu patients, chills will also be.
10. Headache
The headache in the flu is usually severe and debilitating, as well as quite common . Luckily, severe headaches are more unusual in colds, often caused by a buildup of mucus in the airways.
11. Sneezing
During a cold it is very common to be sneezing frequently . The flu can also cause us to sneeze, but it is a much more common symptom in the cold. This can serve as a guide to differentiate these diseases.
12. Sore throat
Sore throat can occur in both colds and flu, but like sneezes, it is more common to find it in cases of cold . You have to be careful with sneezes, since they are an important route of contamination. If you feel like sneezing, try using a tissue or your hand to avoid splashing people around you.
13. Mucus
One of the main characteristics of a cold isdense mucus that occurs within a few days. At the beginning of the disease we can notice the appearance of watery, very liquid mucus. With the passing of the days, we will notice that the mucus becomes much denser and that they can even take on a green or yellow hue. Some people take this as a sign of bacterial infection.
This type of mucus also occurs during flu processes, but it is not as common. In neither case is it a bacterial infection, but viral, so we should not take antibiotics simply because we have yellowish or greenish mucus. This just means that our immune system is fighting the infection.
References
- Worrall G. (2011). Common cold. Canadian family physician Canadian family physician, 57(11), 1289–1290.
- Moghadami M. (2017). A Narrative Review of Influenza: A Seasonal and Pandemic Disease. Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences, 42(1), 2–13.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.
