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How to distinguish between them?
A cold and the flu ( influenza) are alike in many ways. But the flu can sometimes lead to more serious problems, like the lung disease pneumonia.
the common symptoms of the cold are: A stuffy nose, sore throat, and sneezing .
for the flu : Tiredness, fever, headache, and major aches and pains.
Coughing can be a sign of either a cold or the flu. But a bad cough usually points to the flu.
The Dangerous signs :
you must call doctor when:
Your symptoms get worse. Your symptoms last a long time. After feeling a little better, you develop signs of a more serious problem. Some of these signs are a sick-to-your-stomach feeling, vomiting, high fever, shaking chills, chest pain, or coughing with thick, yellow-green mucus.
How Can you Avoid the Cold ?
Wash your hands often. You can pick up cold germs easily, even when shaking someone's hand or touching doorknobs or handrails. Avoid people with colds when possible. If you sneeze or cough, do it into a tissue and then throw the tissue away. Clean surfaces you touch with a germ-killing disinfectant. Don't touch your nose, eyes or mouth. Germs can enter your body easily by these paths.
How to Avoid Flu ?
A flu shot can greatly lower your chance of getting the flu. The best time to get the shot is from the middle of October to the middle of November, because most people get the flu in the winter.
The shot can't cause the flu. But you may feel sore or weak or have a fever for a couple of days.
To whom shots are most important ?
people 65 or older nursing home patients people over 6 months old with health problems, like asthma, or with long-term diseases, like HIV or heart disease children or teenagers who must often take aspirin people who are often around the elderly or those with health problems
You Might Not Be Able to Get a Flu Shot if you :
have certain allergies, especially to eggs have an illness, like pneumonia have a high fever are pregnant
Help yourself :
Drink plenty of fluids. Get plenty of rest. Use a humidifier -- an electric device that puts water into the air. A cough and cold medicine you buy without a prescription may help.
source : Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane (HFI-40)
Rockville, MD 20857
May 2000
(FDA) 00-1280 .
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