Both are caused by virus infections.
Antibiotics do not kill viruses.
There is no cure for the common cold or for influenza.
There are treatments, the first of which is to get lots of rest, drink
plenty of water and let your immune system do its job. There are lots of treatments
for the symptoms, and there are ways to boost your immune system.
Vaccines
can be used to prevent infection by colds and influenzas.
A vaccine involves, in a manner of speaking, giving your immune system a "taste"
of the virus so your system gets some practice in recognizing it and killing it.
Without a vaccine, cold and flu viruses are so good at infecting that they get
well established before your immune system learns how to fight back. There
are just too many and always-changing variations of the cold virus to make it
practical to develop vaccines, particularly because the common cold isn't
very dangerous. The research goal is to find a way to immunize against the whole
class of viruses.
Maybe next year.
Nature
produces a new influenza model every year...one just different enough from
the previous year's version that our immune systems aren't able to immediately
recognize the virus, even if they've been prepared for flu by last year's vaccine.
So you get sick. Or you get lucky. Or you get this year's vaccine in time.
Most people will recover in one to two weeks, but some people will develop life-threatening
complications such as pneumonia, bronchitis and sinus & ear infections.
About 3,500 people die of complications from influenza in Canada every year. February
is usually the month with the highest number of flu cases.
The flu "season" starts in November and runs through April.
Four
things you can do to survive colds and flu. Tra-la.
1 -
Avoid infection. Frequent, thorough hand washing, especially when in public
places, is one of the most effective avoidance techniques. Your hands eventually
end up touching your eyes, nose or mouth. If your hands are carrying infection,
you will introduce the pathogen to your warm, moist internal environment. It will
set up camp.
2 -
Get a 'flu shot, on advice of your physician.
3 -
Boost your body's defences. (example: echinacea & zinc)
4 -
Treat the symptoms with symptom relievers.
Flu
Symptoms - start swiftly and severely, and include:
Fever
Flushed, hot, moist skin
Headache
Body aches
Chills
Fatigue and prostration: you're too sick, feel too weak and ill to get up
Dry cough
Sore throat
Nasal Congestion
Some people, especially children, get "stomach flu" symptoms including
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea - but the flu is a respiratory disease. Those "stomach
flu" symptoms are probably caused by a different virus or a bacteria, possibly
even at the same time as the patient is infected by an influenza virus.
Cold
Symptoms - have a slow onset, and include:
Runny nose
Sneezing
Cough, chest discomfort
Sore throat
Fever
Headache (rare)
Mild fatigue - prostration is rare
