Someone I know had a bad head cold, eventually went to the doctor, who said, “It’s the flu.”
The symptoms seemed much the same, so what’s the diff?
The flu can kill you.
No lie.
45,000-55,000 Americans die of it every year.
Basically the difference is that the “common cold” is caused by an infection with coronavirus which is a (+) sense mRNA virus. And the flu is caused by influenza virus (orthomyxovirus) which is a (-) sense RNA virus.
Both can and do cause fatalities.
The symptoms appear to be the same, but with the flu they are much greater. With a cold, you might get stuffed up, small cough, and possibly a slight fever (obviously not everyoen has the same symptoms, but these are the most common.) With the flue, you generally are less likely to be “stuffed up” (at least in my experience, which so far has been getting the flu three times in two years.) But you you most likely have a high fever, chills, general aches and pains, possibly vomiting, sore throat, headache, and coughing.
A cold is like getting kicked…the flu is like getting kicked in the groin.
The flu symptons are not usually a runny nose and head congestion. That is usually a cold. The flu is at home torturing your throat and lungs, causes aches, pains and other fever related problems.
Sure, you can have a bad cold and get the flu, and everyone calls everything from a bad cold to an upset stomach ‘the flu’, but the flu is like getting hit by a truck. You’ll know the difference between getting hit by a truck (flu) and getting a boo-boo (cold).
Colds are caused by a wide variety of viruses of different types, including coronaviruses, adenoviruses, and, of course, rhinoviruses. And probably a few others I’m forgetting.
What’s the name for that that weird mental symptom in which it seems like the world has been visually dampened and everything seems muffled and echo-y like after a heavy snowfall?
I’ve heard that once you’ve had a certain common cold virus, you’re immune to that, so next time around, it’s a new bug(ger) that’s causing the problems. So how many strains are there?
The virus mutates regularly. It’s not just that it’s a different virus that’s getting you, it’s also that it’s a new virus that’s getting you.
You only remain immune to a certain type of cold for a few months, due to the type of antibodies that are generated on mucus membranes.
The flu also mutates regularly.
If you think you might have the flu, you have a cold.
If you think you might die, you have the flu (or meningitis, see a doctor immediately in any case.)
I don’t know the clinical name, if there is one, but a coworker of mine once referred to it as “mushroom head”, which I thought was a particularly apropos description.
Well, a week’s passed, and she’s gradually getting better, but symptoms certainly matched everything said in this thread.
Thanks for your comments, all.
I just got over the flu. I believe it was my first one as I found it very wierd to be sick and yet for my body to ache (AKA WTF.) But the other one that seemed very odd to me is that I seemed to be unable to taste a lot. Certain flavors still came through but not all. Made it a pain to eat as everything either tasted weird or bad, even though I knew I had to.
Is that a common sympton?
So, if colds are caused by viruses, why do grannies always say “wear your jacket, otherwise you’ll catch a cold”? In other words, how can cold temperatures cause infections (colds)? I never got that. Is it funky popular wisdom? Explain this to me please.
My guess is that they are confusing temporary body responses to changes in temperature (sneezing, runny nose, etc) with similar infection symptoms.
I know people are more prone to getting sick in the winter due to weakened defenses and more time spent indoors. Still, it doesn’t make sense.
It’s called a cold; this must reflect some cultural belief that it’s related to being cold. The explanation I’ve always heard is just that we’re crowded together more in the winter, so cold weather is associated with but only indirectly a cause of the winter being cold season. That doesn’t explain much, really, as most people tend to be crowded together all year around. And I highly doubt that being cold for twenty minutes on your way to school is significantly depressing your immune system.
So why do we get sicker in the winter?