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Difference between Cold and Flu

Difference between Cold and Flu

Are you searching for the difference between cold and flu, don’t worry. Our article will answer all the questions coming in your mind that related of both terms.

Common cold and flu both are different illness but share some symptoms which make them similar. These both are caused by viruses but are very different from each other. There are many viruses which causes cold but only three which causes flu i.e. influenza.

Cold and Flu terms are defined below for better understanding so that you can find differences for both terms.

What is Cold?

The common cold is a viral infection of the upper respiratory system. Cold symptoms start with sore throat and continue with runny nose, headache, cough etc. Colds are contagious disease and can be transmitted from person to person.

Colds have an incubation period of about one to seven days. A cold’s duration depends upon the viral strain; it can last up to two weeks. Colds are considered mainly to be a mild respiratory illness.

What is Influenza or Flu?

Flu is also called influenza. It is a viral infection of the upper respiratory as well as lower respiratory system caused by influenza viruses. These viruses usually cause more serious symptoms in the respiratory system than cold-causing viruses. There are many cold causing viruses.

The flu is contagious which can be transmitted from person to person, and has an incubation period of about one to four days. The people suffering from flu normally fells unwell for two three days but it can become an intense and potentially fatal illness in some individuals.

It is difficult to differentiate both but its symptoms, duration and treatments make it different from one another. Let’s have a look.

Fever

While suffering from cold there are rare chances of fever but during flu there are chances for high fever which may last for 3 to 4 days.

Headache

There are less chances of headache in cold but there is possibility of intense headache in flu.

Prevention

Prevention is better than cure. So the prevention for cold is to wash your hands well and avoid coming in contact with sick people while prevention for flu is to treat yourself with flu vaccine once a year.

Treatment

Resting, taking care of yourself and eating healthy are usually enough to cure a cold whereas you can treat the flu by taking paracetamol to lower your fever, ibuprofen for muscle aches and cough syrup if you have a cough.