Flu

The flu is just a bad cold

We are big fans of flu shots. If you want to debate about whether the flu shot might give you the flu, head to the chapter on vaccines after we try to convince you why you should get a flu shot. One of the arguments we hear most often by people who don’t want to get immunized is that the flu just isn’t a big deal; it’s just a bad cold.

Well, look, there are a number of things the flu and a cold have in common. They both involve the respiratory system and can both include a cough and a runny or stuffy nose. And, of course, they both make you feel sick. But that’s where the similarities end.

Colds are caused by a variety of viruses, mostly rhinoviruses (30 to 50 percent) and coronaviruses (10 to 15 percent). The flu, on the other hand, is caused only by the influenza virus. Colds are defined as a short and mild illness first characterized by headache, sneezing, chills, and sore throat; later on you can get a runny or stuffed nose, cough, and feel ill. Usually, things move fast, and colds are at their worst two to three days after infection. Most people feel better in a week to ten days after the cold starts, but some symptoms can last for weeks. Very few people with colds develop fevers. Influenza, on the other hand, feels more like getting hit by a truck. Influenza comes on fast with more symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat, headaches, muscle pains, stuffy nose, weakness, and even a loss of appetite. You are likely to feel much worse with the flu. A lot of people think of the flu or influenza as a stomach flu. While you might have a loss of your appetite or an upset stomach, the main effect from influenza is to make you achy, weak, and tired, with a bad cough, fever, and congestion.

Colds rarely do more than annoy us and slow us down. We don’t mean to minimize how bad you feel when you’re sick with a cold, but you can be pretty sure as to how bad it will get—after a while, you probably experience the same symptoms time and again. Flu, on the other hand, can kill. In fact, the flu kills up to 500,000 people around the world every year. The number of people who die from colds is almost zero.

While there is no cure for the cold, there actually are antiviral medications that can help the flu go away faster. In order for these medications to work, you need to start taking them in the first day or two after you get the flu. It is therefore important to talk to your doctor as soon as possible after you feel sick in flu season. Once those first few days have passed, the medications will no longer do you any good. Although it is difficult to tell a cold from the flu, the best predictors are cough and fever; having both of these symptoms has a positive predictive value of 80 percent in differentiating flu from a cold. This means that if you have a cough and a fever during the flu season, there is a very good chance you have the flu instead of a cough, so talk to your doctor about getting antiviral medicines for the flu.

Most important—there is a vaccine for the flu. The flu shot works! It prevents illness and saves lives. Not to beat a dead horse, but if your physician recommends that you get a shot, you really should get one. The CDC currently recommends the flu shot for many people. You should get the flu shot if you are at high risk for having complications from the flu. You may not think this includes you, but if you are a child six months to five years old, a pregnant woman, an adult fifty years and older, someone with a chronic medical condition (including asthma), or someone who lives in a nursing home or long-term-care facility, then you should get a flu shot every year. If you live with any of the people on that list, if you live with a child who is less than six months old (since they are too young to get the flu shot), or if you are a health care worker, then you should also get a flu shot every year. This list covers most of us. Get a flu shot! Of course, you should still wash your hands and try to stay away from close contact with sick people to avoid both colds and the flu, but the flu shot may save your life or the life of someone close to you by protecting you against the flu.