Colds and flu at a glance

Colds

• There are nearly 200 viruses known to cause colds.
• More women catch colds than men but they are less severe.
• Early symptoms of a cold include a tickle in the throat, followed a few days later by sneezing and a watery discharge from the nose.
• Cold symptoms last anything from 4 -14 days.
• Colds become less common as people get older. Children may have as many as ten a year, elderly people may have one a year, or none at all.

Flu

• Like colds, flu is caused by a virus.
• The flu virus was first identified in 1933. There are only three types of the virus, but many strains.
• Colds and flu are quite different illnesses. Flu has the following symptoms which distinguish it from a cold:
  • Sudden or rapid onset of symptoms
  • High temperature
  • Chills and fever
  • Headache
  • Weakness and aching muscles
  • Loss of appetite
• Between 4 and 15 per cent of people over 20 years old catch flu each year.
• In Britain alone, more than 150 million working days are lost each year because of flu-related illnesses at a cost of £6.75 billion.
• Flu tends to occur in small outbreaks or epidemics, particularly when a new strain of the virus develops.
• Flu symptoms usually clear up in 7-10 days.
• People with flu are likely to need to spend a few days in bed.
• Death from flu is not common. Most of these rare deaths occur in people over 75 years.

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