If you must go out, dress appropriately for the weather. Hard candies, cough drops and frequent hot drinks may help. If necessary, more potent medications can be prescribed. Stay in bed until your temperature is 100 degrees or lower for 24 hours. Both are upper respiratory tract infections caused by viruses, but the Flu is caused by just a few viruses and the common cold is caused by as many as 100 or more.
Early symptoms are often the same, but the flu is a far more serious illness.
Many illnesses start out with the same symptoms as the flu, so make sure you have the flu and not another illness. You are about to leave the UC Davis Cowell Student Health Center Web site. Cowell is not responsible for the completeness, accuracy, or maintenance of information on any non-Cowell Web site. Consider consulting your health care provider about the applicability of any information to your own health care situation.