Cold or flu???

Is it a cold or the flu?Colds and flu are both highly contagious and, in the initial stages, a bad cold and a mild case of the flu might seem alike. However, flu is a serious illness that can have life-threatening complications.
You can compare the symptoms for each illness in the table below:

Symptoms	Cold	Flu
Fever	rare in adults and older children, but can be as high as 102° F in infants and small children	usually 102° F, but can go up to 104° F and usually lasts three to four days
Headache	rare	sudden onset and can be severe
Muscle aches	mild	usual, and often severe
Tiredness and Weakness	mild	often extreme, and can last two or more weeks
Extreme exhaustion	never	sudden onset and can be severe
Runny nose	often	sometimes
Sneezing	often	sometimes
Sore throat	often	sometimes
Cough	mild hacking cough	usual, and can become severe

How should the flu be treated?

• Rest
• Drink plenty of liquids
• Avoid using alcohol and tobacco
• If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.

In some cases, your doctors may choose to use certain antiviral drugs to treat the flu. (Influenza is caused by a virus, so antibiotics, like penicillin, will not cure it.)Can antiviral drugs cure the flu?
Not exactly. When started within the first two days of illness, they can reduce the duration of the disease but cannot cure it outright.
Four different antiviral drugs (amantadine, rimantadine, zanamivir, and oseltamivir) have been approved for treating the flu. All four drugs can reduce the duration of flu by about one day if taken within 2 days of when symptoms begin. The four drugs differ in terms of side effects. In some patients, amantadine (Symmetrel, others) can cause symptoms such as nervousness, difficulty concentrating, or lightheadedness. Rimantadine (Flumadine) can also cause similar types of side effects, but less often. Caution is advised if zanamivir (Relenza) is used by people who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, because the airways of these people may suddenly grow smaller after using zanamivir, leading to difficulty breathing. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) can cause nausea and vomiting in some people.
When should I seek medical attention?
Most healthy people recover from the flu without complications. If you are at special risk from complications of flu, you should consult your health-care provider when your flu symptoms begin. This includes people 65 years or older, people with chronic medical conditions, pregnant women, or children. Your doctor may choose to use certain antiviral drugs to treat the flu.
For others, there are some "emergency warning signs" that require urgent medical attention.
In children, some emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

• High or prolonged fever
• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Changes in mental status, such as not waking up or not interacting; being so irritable that the child does not want to be held; or seizures
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
• Worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions (for example, heart or lung disease, diabetes)

In adults, some emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

• High or prolonged fever
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest
• Near-fainting or fainting
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

Seek medical care immediately, either by calling your doctor or going to an emergency room, if you or someone you know is experiencing any of the signs described above.Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention