What actually is the flu or influenza? Whats the difference between the flu and the common cold?
Influenza is a different type of virus to the cold. Both are virus’s and produce very similar symptoms because the typical symptoms of a virus are caused by the body’s attempt to eradicate the virus. The main difference is that the cold is centred in the nostrils and usually does not persist for more than 5 days. The flu effects the whole of the body and can be more serious. The flu also progresses more abruptly than the Cold virus. When the body is infected with the flu virus, it typically produces a higher grade fever than a cold. The flu also causes more respiratory problems than the common cold,- The virus can can basically settle anywhere in the respiratory tract, producing symptoms of croup, bronchitis, ear infection, throat infections and/or pneumonia. The big difference of course is that the flu virus is preventable with yearly vaccinations.
