Within hours to days, watery nasal discharge, sneezing, and cough may occur. Other common complaints include low-grade fever, headache, decreased appetite, muscle aches, and fatigue. After two to three days, the body's immune system fights back, changing the mucus to a white, yellow, or green color. This is normal, and does not mean bacterial infection that requires antibiotics. The symptoms of a cold usually peak by the fifth day and improve by the tenth, but cough and nasal discharge may persist for more than two weeks.
Antibiotics are powerful medicines used to treat bacterial infections.
Although bacterial infections can be cured by antibiotics, common viral infections are never cured by antibiotics. People recover from viruses after the illness has run its course. Your physician may prescribe or suggest medicines to make you feel better until your body recovers from the viral infection. There are many reasons why it is very important that antibiotics not be prescribed for viral illnesses. First, bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.