Passing Cold Or Full Blown Flu?

Main Category: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 01 Nov 2008 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Considering how common they are, colds and flu are the subject of a great many misconceptions. Dr. Seth Feltheimer, an internist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, offers his insight and expertise on these sources of misery.

First, the differences: A cold is usually an upper respiratory tract infection with symptoms including a sore throat, head congestion, sinus pain and low-grade fever. On the other hand, the flu is generally marked by a higher fever, a sore throat, cough and body aches. A common cold usually lasts two to three days while the flu can take as long as a week. Unlike colds, the flu can lead to more serious complications and even hospitalization, especially in high-risk individuals like asthmatics and the elderly.

Now, the facts and fictions:

-- "The best way to prevent a cold is to wash your hands."

True. Also, try avoiding people with colds.

-- "You can catch a cold by staying outside in the cold too long."

False. Colds are transmitted by touching something that an infected person has touched, or by breathing in moisture that an infected person has coughed out. The reason people get more colds in winter is that they spend more time indoors and have more contact with each other. Additionally, it is easier to catch the flu in dry, cold weather.

-- "Antibiotics can cure a cold or the flu."

False. A cold or flu is a virus, and, therefore, cannot be treated with antibiotics. There are medications that can alleviate the symptoms of flu and make you feel better, but the best defense against the flu is to be vaccinated against it. There is no vaccine against the common cold.

-- "If you have the flu, you shouldn't go to work."

True. Going to work can expose your colleagues to infection. Sometimes, professional athletes play with the flu, but in those cases it is usually a different virus involved. The best advice is to rest and recover.

-- "Flu shots can give you the flu."

False. Flu shots can produce very mild flu-like symptoms for a short period, but this happens very infrequently.

-- "If you have a flu shot one year, you don't need it the next."

False. Flu shots do not last for more than a year. And, the vaccine is reformulated each year to target the specific kind of virus, which may change from year to year.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,242 beds. The Hospital has nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including more than 230,000 visits to its emergency departments more than any other area hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Allen Pavilion and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. It ranks sixth in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals," ranks first on New York magazine's "Best Hospitals" survey, has the greatest number of physicians listed in New York magazine's "Best Doctors" issue, and is included among Solucient's top 15 major teaching hospitals. The Hospital's mortality rates are among the lowest for heart attack and heart failure in the country, according to a 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report card. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For more information, visit http://www.nyp.org.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
http://www.nyp.org