When someone has a cold, the nasal secretions are teeming with cold viruses. Coughing, drooling, and talking are all unlikely ways to pass a cold. But sneezing, nose-blowing, and nose-wiping are the means by which the virus spreads. You can catch a cold by inhaling the virus if you are sitting close to a sneeze, or by touching your nose, eyes, or mouth after you have touched something contaminated by infected nasal secretions.
Once you have "caught" a cold, the symptoms begin in 1 to 5 days. Usually irritation in the nose or a scratchy feeling in the throat is the first sign, followed within hours by sneezing and a watery nasal discharge.
Inhaling droplets from coughs or sneezes is the most common way to catch the flu. Symptoms appear 1 to 7 days later (usually 2-3 days). The flu is airborne and quite contagious, and with its short incubation period it often slams into a community all at once, creating a noticeable cluster of school and work absences. The flu usually arrives in the winter months. Within 2 or 3 weeks of its arrival, most of the classroom has had it.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
How We Actually Catch Cold and Flu Viruses
Monday, September 24, 2007
Is It A Cold Or Is It The Flu?
What is the difference between a cold and the flu?
The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have similar flu-like symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
How can you tell the difference between a cold and the flu?
Because colds and flu share many symptoms, it can be difficult (or even impossible) to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Special tests that usually must be done within the first few days of illness can be carried out, when needed to tell if a person has the flu.
What are the symptoms of the flu versus the symptoms of a cold?
In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
Odds are you'll catch a cold soon, if you haven't already this season: The average American adult catches about two to four a year. Children get between five and nine each year with preschoolers the most susceptible, according to the Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota.
Flu, while less common, is more severe. On average, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized yearly with influenza and flu-related complications. As many as 36,000 Americans die each year from complications of the flu, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
This year's flu season is off to a slow start. The CDC reports sporadic cases, or none at all, around most of the nation. But the situation can quickly change, says one expert.
"Sometimes, things will start in October or November and then other times we don't see activity until January and February," says Dr. Joe Dalovisio, chairman of the infectious disease group at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, Louisiana. "It's just not predictable."
Cold vs. flu
Determining if you have the flu or just a bad cold is the first step in treatment, Dalovisio says.
A cold often includes a runny nose, sneezing and coughing; the flu usually features those same symptoms, but more severe, along with fever, more coughing and more muscle aches, according to Dalovisio. Both come with a feeling of exhaustion.
"Frequently, it's not the issue of 'Can I make it to work?'" he explains. "But 'I can't go to work.' You're just so sick."
Castelli knew she had caught something beyond a cold after her symptoms worsened.
"I know my cold inside and out. I get it two or three times a year. It will be over in a week," she said. "I knew this wasn't a normal cold when the week had passed and I still felt horrible. ... There were about five days where I couldn't even get out of bed."
People who come down with the flu can take prescription medications to reduce the time they're sick -- but only if taken within 48 hours of the first symptom's appearance, according to the American Lung Association. The medicines oseltamivir, zanamivir, amantadine and rimantadine (sold under the brand names Tamiflu, Relenza, Symmetrel and Flumadine, respectively) can lessen flu's severity and length by at least a day, depending on the strain of the flu.
Otherwise, doctors recommend basic treatments for colds and flus: bed rest, plenty of fluids, aspirin or acetaminophen for fevers and headaches and over-the-counter medication to temporarily relieve symptoms.
No conclusive evidence exists to show herbal remedies or homemade cures help speed up the healing process. But Dalovisio said if mom's chicken soup or doses of zinc make a patient feel nurtured, then it's helpful.
Andrea Buhr of Marietta, Georgia, agrees. If she or her sons get sick, Buhr says, certain comforting treatments are always on hand to stifle runny noses and soothe sore throats.
"[We] like chicken soup, tea with honey and lemon, cough drops -- and packs and packs of soft tissue."
Prevention is key
The best treatment, Dalovisio says, is prevention. Simple steps can help stave off the worst of the cold and flu season.
Although there is no vaccine for the common cold, the flu vaccine is one of the top weapons against influenza. A flu vaccine shortage this year, however, will prevent many from taking that step. Heath officials advise only those in high-risk groups to get the vaccine. (Vaccine shortage a global crisis, Why no cure for the common cold?)
But there is still plenty that the average person can do to ward off germs.
 Over-the-counter medicines can relieve symptoms of the cold and flu, but doctors also recommend plenty of rest. |  |
"Most cold and flu viruses are spread by hand-to-mouth type [contact] rather than airborne," Dalovisio says. He advises avoiding crowded situations like cocktail or office parties if you really want to avoid colds.
"[At these events,] you shake hands, then you eat your chip and dip, and then you shake somebody else's hand. It's the perfect scenario to get sick," he says. But he doesn't mean to scare people into becoming a recluse, he adds.
Good, old-fashioned hand-washing is also one of the best preventative measures a person can take.
"People ask me, 'As an infectious disease doctor, don't you get sick a lot?'" he explains. "And I tell them: 'No, I don't' because I wash my hands before and after every patient.'"
Buhr has instilled the hand-washing habit in her sons, calling that one of the reasons the family doesn't get sick very often. During cold and flu season, "I really step up the hand-washing routine reminders," she says.
Cleaning a desk at work, school or home may also eliminate lurking germs. Rhinoviruses that cause colds can survive up to three hours, so cleaning surfaces with disinfectant may help stop infections, according to the National Institutes of Health. (Is your desk making you sick?)
And if you do get sick, experts say don't play the martyr and come into work -- if you do, you'll only make everyone around you miserable, too.
"Unfortunately, there are some people who will try to go to work with the flu and spread it around," Dalovisio says.
Common sense precautions are simple, but they may mean the difference between spending weeks sick in bed or sailing through the cold and flu season without a sniffle.
Friday, September 14, 2007
What Is A Cold
What is a cold?
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Usually, it is a mild condition, recovery taking place within about a week. However, sometimes the same symptoms occur with other illnesses like influenza.
It is most common during the cold winter months and affects children and adults of all ages. Most people will catch a cold two to four times a year.
How do we catch a cold?
A person is contagious from the day before the illness breaks out until one to three days after they feel better. The infection is spread by airborne droplets when the sufferer coughs or sneezes.
It can also be spread by hand if someone has the virus on their hands and then puts them close to their eyes or nose. This is possibly the most common way of catching a cold.
What are the symptoms of a cold?
- A sore throat.
- There may be pain on swallowing.
- Sneezing.
- The nose begins to run with a water-like secretion which gradually becomes thicker and more yellow.
- As the mucous membrane of the nose swells it may be hard to breathe through the nose.
- An oppressive feeling in the ears.
- Headache.
- Coughing.
- A feeling of being unwell.
- A high temperature. Children are more likely to run a temperature than adults.
- If possible, stay away from people with colds.
- Avoid crowded places where the risk of infection is greater.
- Do not touch your nose or eyes after being in physical contact with somebody that has a cold.
- Wash your hands thoroughly, especially after blowing your nose.
- Keep rooms well aired.
Consultations with a doctor are unnecessary, unless the cold causes other infections.
Outlook
Usually a common cold causes no serious trouble and symptoms will clear up in one to two weeks. Possible complications include inflammation of the eyes, sinusitis, inflammation of the middle ear, tonsillitis, and pneumonia. The reason for these complications may be that a germ infects the irritated mucous membrane.
How do you treat a cold ?
- There is no effective way of treating an ordinary cold. If the sufferer has no other diseases than the common cold, and it goes away in one to two weeks, there is no reason to see a doctor. Since a cold is caused by a virus, antibiotics are not appropriate.
- Symptoms such as cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and headache can be relieved by a variety of over-the-counter medicines. You can get advice from a pharmacist about which are most suitable for you and your symptoms.
- There is no need to reduce daily activities but you should expect to become tired more easily.
- The symptoms can be relieved by warm drinks.
- Nasal decongestants may ease breathing.
- Sleep with the head on a high pillow.
- Avoid smoking; it irritates the mucous membrane of the nose further.
- Throw away paper tissues after use to prevent the spread of infection.
