Difference between cold and flu
The runny nose, cough, and sore throat of a cold are hard to escape; most people suffer two or three bouts with the enemy a year. That’s why it’s called “the common cold.” In the winter moiths, flu (short for influenza) inflicts a similar misery on people; what makes flu worse is the presence of fever, as well as muscle and joint aches. The complications of flu—especially pneumonia—can be serious and thousands of North Americans die from flu or its complications each year. Colds and flu are highly contagious respiratory infections that are caused by viruses. More than 200 cold viruses (rhinoviruses) have been identified; unfortunately, developing immunity to one does not protect you from the others, There are fewer flu viruses, but they undergo frequent mutations—that is,. they change their protein structure just a little—each year as they sweep around the globe. This is why new flu vaccines are produced yearly that protect against the prevailing strains of the virus. Doctors recommend annual flu shots for everyone over the age of 65, people of any age who have a circulatory, respiratory, kidney, metabolic, or immune disorder.
