What are the differences between colds and viral flu?

Both colds and viral influenza are contagious, but viral influenza is relatively more serious, the patient's symptoms are more obvious, and there are more complications. Therefore, if you have a viral influenza, you must seek treatment as soon as possible. The following introduces the differences between colds and viral influenza. You can learn about it comprehensively.

Colds are usually divided into viral colds and bacterial colds. Or the common cold and influenza.

Viral colds include: common cold, influenza, and viral pharyngitis.

Bacterial colds include: bacterial pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

The main difference is the pathogenic factors. Viral colds are caused by viruses, while bacterial colds are caused by bacteria.

Influenza is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza virus. The virus exists in the patient's respiratory tract and is transmitted to others through droplets when the patient coughs or sneezes. Influenza is highly contagious. Because the virus mutates easily, even people who have had the flu will still be infected the next time a flu epidemic occurs, so influenza can easily cause an epidemic outbreak. Generally, there are more chances of influenza spreading in winter and spring, and 20% to 40% of people may be infected with influenza each time.

The symptoms of simple influenza are: sudden chills, fever, headache, body aches, nasal congestion, runny nose, dry cough, chest pain, nausea, loss of appetite. Infants, children, or the elderly may develop pneumonia or heart failure. Patients with toxic influenza will suffer from high fever, delirium, coma, convulsions, which can sometimes be fatal. Because the disease is highly contagious, it should be isolated and treated early.

The common cold, commonly known as the common cold, is caused by rhinovirus, coronavirus and parainfluenza virus. These viruses exist in the patient's respiratory tract and are transmitted to others through droplets. The common cold is much less contagious than influenza. People are more likely to get sick when they catch a cold, get caught in the rain, or are overly tired because their resistance is reduced. Therefore, the common cold often occurs individually, and rarely occurs in large numbers like during an influenza epidemic.

When the common cold occurs, most patients have a low fever and rarely a high fever. The patient suffers from nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, headache, body aches, fatigue and weakness. The symptoms are milder than those of influenza and do not threaten life.

The above is the difference between the two types of colds that the editor introduced to you. So after understanding it, if you have a common cold, you can recover as soon as possible by drinking more water, eating more fruits, and resting more. However, if a viral cold occurs, it must be taken seriously. First of all, you must drink plenty of water and take medication to avoid complications.