Cold or the Flu?

Symptoms	Cold	Flu
Fever	Rare	Characteristic High
Headache	Rare	Prominent
General Aches, Pains	Slight	Usual, often severe
Fatigue, Weakness	Quite mild	Can last up to 2-3 weeks
Extreme Exhaustion	Never	Early and prominent
Stuffy Nose	Common	Sometimes
Sneezing	Usual	Sometimes
Sore Throat	Common	Sometimes
Chest Discomfort, Cough	Mild to moderate, Hacking cough	Common, can become severe
Complications	Sinus congestion or earache	Bronchitis, pneumonia; can be life threatening
Prevention	None	Annual vaccination; amantadine or rimantadine (antiviral drugs)
Treatment	Only temporary relief of symptoms	Amantadine or rimantadine within 24-48 hours after onset of symptoms

Chart courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases