Cold vs. flu & knowing the difference

October 25, 9:51 PMDetroit Disease Prevention ExaminerLisa Robertson

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"Taking care of Detroit 1 Sneeze at a time!"

Lisa Robertson

In times like today Detroit is really feeling the brunt of our Michigan weather.The new strain of Flu is abundant, it is important to understand the difference between cold & Flu. In order to pretect ourselves from contracting this horrible life taking flu we must first understand the difference between cold and flu. Quite often we don't know upon the onset if we have the cold or a flu. The 1-2 days it takes us to figure it out can be dire.

With the plague of Swine flu at our doors we often over react and jump the gun, taking away precious time from our lives and the lives of someone who needed it. Look below there are a few things that can help you determine whether or not its cold or flu.

Cold:

Symptoms-

Minor Muscle aches and pain
Chest Discomfort mild
Symptoms develop over 2-3 days
Sneezing
Sore Throat

Flu:

Symptoms can arise within 3-6 hours:

Fever often over 100degrees
Headache
Chills
Dry Cough
Severe Muscle Aches & Pains
Severe Chest discomfort
Stomach Aches, vomiting, nausea


The flu symptoms vary from children & adults:

Children can have sneezing, and runny nose or a persistent cough associated with the flu. However it is often unlikely in adults with the flu. Nasal congestion & persistent dry cough is more likely in adults.

For more information on cold vs. Flu differences please visit the Center for Disease Control & Prevention at : http://www.cdc.gov

This is intended for informational use only. It should not be used in place of licensed medical advice. If you think you have these symptoms please see your general physician.