Cold vs Flu – Know the Difference

There are many similarities between the common cold and the flu, however, there are striking differences that are easily noticed. We often confuse a cold and the flu; terminology is used interchangeably. Currently, we are mid-winter in Canada and that means it’s prime time for cold and flu season. It’s their moment; they wait for this all year. They’re trending. They’re viral. Everyone knows about them. Why does the flu come around every winter? What is the difference between a cold and a flu? Let’s explore these questions.

What is bacteria?

Bacteria are like little bugs. You can see them under a microscope and they are living organisms that infect your body. They proliferate (reproduce) so that more and more of them can attack your system. A bacterial infection can be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics help the body identify bacterial organisms so that your immune system can destroy them, thus winning the war (champion!). An example of a bacterial infection is bacterial pneumonia; bacteria in the lungs and often a secondary infection to an initial pathogen (such as a viral infection).

What is a virus?

A virus is a whole new level of crazy. They are incredible and likely the most abundant organisms in the world. So many arrogant individuals think they own this plant; viruses own it. They have global citizenship. If we’re talking numbers, viruses own more property on this planet than any human possibly could and they just take it. They don’t even pay for property.

I have always had a fascination with bacteria but they don’t come close to my fascination of viruses. Viruses and virions (a virus that doesn’t have a host yet) are complex and dominate the microbial world. A virus can even infect a bacteria (mind blown) and they are so small that millions could fit on to the tip of a pin.

How do viruses work?

A virus injects it’s RNA or DNA into your cell. For this example, we will imagine a virus is shaped like a small triangle and inside the triangle is a code (RNA or DNA). The code is sitting around, not doing much until it can find a host. The host is your cell. The little triangular demon coasts on top of one of your cells and inserts its code like a completely unwelcomed guest. Your cell is like “wow! New data! Let’s run that shit!” and it excitedly absorbs the new code (RNA/DNA) into it’s own code (genome).

The cell is now a host for the virus, even though it thinks it’s perfectly normal. It has new code in it. The cell goes about it’s normal business which is primarily reproducing itself. Our cells are continuously reproducing and have a finite lifespan. New cells are created and differentiated (sent on their mission) by stem cells. Stem cells are cell-making factories inside your bone marrow. We love stem cells.

Viral domination

Once the virus has inserted its RNA/DNA into the host (you) and your cells do their thang (make more of themselves so you can live), they innocently reproduce that new viral code and not their original code. That means your cells, YOUR BODY, is actually what is creating new viral cells. As more of your cells reproduce, the virus spreads. In order to kill a virus, you need to kill the host. You see where I’m going with this apocalyptic story? That’s your cells. You see why viruses are so complex? We have to kill you in order to kill them (sorry).

What is a cold?

A common cold is the stuffy nose, coughing, fatigue and overall feeling of shittiness that most of us have experienced. It’s not pleasant. A cold can be caused by a multitude of different viruses. The most common is the Rhinovirus. This is a group of viruses that is comprised of over 200 different strains. That means 200 different forms of this one particular virus are hovering around, infecting people and causing mass sneezing.

You can get multiple strains, there is no cure, complications are rare and rest, hydration and Netflix will ease symptoms. Sometimes a low grade fever accompanies one of these 200 sneeze-bots and most people recover within a few days. Unless you live in Canada, in which case you experience all 200 strains and waves of shittiness become the norm from October to March. We deal with it like the badass ice cubes that we are.

What’s up with the winter? Why am I sick every winter?

As if winter isn’t hard enough, viruses thrive in the winter months. Every organism has an optimal temperature it can survive in. Think of your body; you can survive in a range of temperatures however no all. The body will die if it becomes too hot or too cold. A virus also has an optimal temperature range that occurs during winter months. The temperature inside your nose is perfect, in fact!

When your body attempts to kill a virus, it uses all it’s weapons. One of those weapons is temperature control. Since the common cold virus (and flu virus) love the cold winter so much, an ideal attack plan is extreme heat. How does a body create that condition? A fever.

What is the flu?

The flu is a completely different and much more serious virus than the common cold. The flu is short for Influenza. Influenza also has many different strains and you may have heard of H1N1 or H5N1. The two enzymes (or glycoprotein) hemagglutinin and neuraminidase are what differentiates one strain from another. In the same way as a Rhinovirus can infect a person multiple times, Influenza can do the same because there are many strains.

Influenza is vastly different from a common cold even though they have similar symptoms. Influenza has caused two significant pandemics; one in 1919 and one in 2009, as well as a smaller outbreak in 2013. The 1919 pandemic of H1N1 is known as the Spanish Flu. It killed upwards of 50 million people; one third of the European population at that time.

What are the main differences?

When you have a cold, you feel tired and experience a myriad of symptoms that are aimed at killing the virus in your body. You cough and sneeze because your immune system is attempting to rid your body of viral cells. When you build up mucus in your nose, it is the body’s way of trying to kill the viral cells. Suffocate them, sneeze them out, cough them out; anything to make the conditions unbearable for the viral cells.

Your symptoms are your body’s army kicking it into action. In order to kill the viral cells of a common cold, most people take those cells down naturally with rest and fluids. This is also where Netflix comes in. Somehow, it helps.

The body responds in a similar way to the Influenza virus except the conditions your body creates in order to attack the viral cells are much more intense. The virus is more severe and you will get sicker much faster than with a common cold.

Cold vs Flu

When you have a cold, you feel like a bag of shit. That’s basically the full expression of your symptoms. You. Feel. Shitty. When you have Influenza, you are questioning your life and wondering if breathing in is even possible. You feel like a truck hit you and fatigue is comparable to first trimester pregnancy. Your fever will be high; that is one of the classic signs that you’re not dealing with a cold.

Influenza is like a semitrailer and a common cold is like a golf cart. The fever that accompanies influenza is higher because your body desperately tries to heat you up enough to kill the viral cells. Influenza is a severe respiratory infection, can be accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea (particularly in children) and can be deadly. Certain strains of Influenza are worse than others and more difficult to control the spread because they spread through air, saliva, objects, insects (vectors) and touch.

Threefold flu combo

The combination of these three factors will indicate you could have Influenza and not a cold:

– Fever that will not come down and is in the range of 40 degrees Celsius. High fever and relentless.
– Serious respiratory symptoms such as cough, wheezing or difficulty breathing.
– A full body attack – all the symptoms seem to appear. You might be incredibly tired, vomit, sore throat, fever, aches and painful coughing Influenza typically lasts quite a bit longer. At times it can last a week or even a few weeks until you reach full recovery.

The key difference is that a cold will not give you a sky high fever or such severe respiratory symptoms that you need to go to the ER. Everything you experience a common cold is more mild than Influenza. Influenza can lead to a secondary bacterial infection in the lungs (pneumonia) because the immune system is already comprised from trying to kill the truck-like virus that you’re involuntarily hosting. Sometimes people who succumb to the Influenza virus actually die from the secondary infection, such as bacterial pneumonia.

Treatment

The common cold and Influenza can clear up on their own. Serious strains of Influenza, such as H1N1, may require treatment. Tamiflu is an antiviral medication that will help your body fight Influenza but it is only effective if you take it within the first three days of showing symptoms. There is no cure for viruses. Vaccines help the body identify an incoming virus and boost the immune system; antiviral medication can help defeat viral cells. Often you have to ride out the virus. Influenza (or a common cold) can lead to a bacterial infection. That will absolutely require the use of antibiotics. Bacterial infections are treatable and require medical intervention. 

Your immune army

Your immune system doesn’t understand you vs. the virus. It will mount the largest response possible to kill the viral/bacterial cells. That means you need to survive your own body’s attack. The immune system will not back off when you’re dying. It has one goal – kill foreign bodies. That’s why knowledge and vigilance is so important when it comes to Influenza.

A very healthy person might have a very strong immune system and rarely contract colds. Their immune system is like the military. Suddenly a very virulent form of Influenza enters the body, such as H1N1, and their super system mounts a massive, war-like attack.

That’s how healthy people die from Influenza. Their extremely strong immune system goes as hard as possible. Fever is skyrocketing, the body is turning inside out to get rid of viral cells, the respiratory system is filling with fluid and mucus The body, in these cases, cannot withstand its own military. The immune response is so severe that the body does not make it.

What is the flu shot?

The flu shot is an inactive or attenuated (weakened) version of the Influenza virus. You cannot get the flu from the flu shot. You CAN get the flu if you’ve had a flu shot. The concept behind the flu shot is to give your immune system a heads up about the most severe strains. It’s like showing the system what the virus will look like so that if it infects the body, the response is prepared.

Getting a flu shot boosts immunity in a similar way to vaccinations. They help your military to become stronger and more effective. In this way, if you do contract a severe form of Influenza but your body has seen it before, it will respond more effectively. Perhaps instead of throwing every single symptom at you until you keel over, you get symptoms the are more targeted, faster and take out viral cells more effectively. Know your enemy, as they say.

Viral complexity

Weak immune systems can get hit very hard by both common colds and Influenza. That’s why young children and the elderly (maturity winners) are at a high risk. The Influenza virus has a chance to proliferate (spread) quickly and the immune system doesn’t respond hard or fast enough. The polarity of this is that very healthy people can also die from Influenza because they mount such a huge immune response. Complex, hey?

*respect for virologists*

It’s a bit of a paradox. If your military is weak, the virus will infect too many cells in your body and you could die. If your military is super strong, your immune response will be World War 3 calibre and could overwhelm your system. For an average strain of Influenza, most will recover using their regular strength immune system and lots of rest. In the case of a very serious strain, the impact will be dependent on whether your immune system was prepared (flu shot), whether you get help for your body (medicine) and whether your body can withstand the attack without killing so many of your cells that you don’t survive.

Let’s summarize with a side by side comparison of the common cold vs Influenza.