What Are the Symptoms Associated With Colds and Flu?

Many serious diseases appear at first to be "the flu." Even your doctor may find it hard to be sure you have just the flu. It's better to get checked out carefully than to miss a serious disease that needs specific treatment.

The most commonly reported symptoms of the cold and flu include:

• Sneezing

• Cough

• Congestion

• Stuffy or runny nose

• Sore throat

• Low-grade fever (usually lower than 101 degrees F)

• Fever, often greater than 102 F (flu)

• Headache

• Hoarseness

• Chills

• Muscle aches

• Fatigue

In general, cold symptoms appear more gradually and are not as severe as flu symptoms. Flu sufferers usually report sudden and more dramatic onset of symptoms that often start with a fever and tend to be less localized in the nose and throat.

If sore throat is your main symptom, find out if it is a strep throat instead of a cold. The doctor may want to test you to tell for sure if it is strep. In some cases, blood tests to detect antibodies to specific viruses may be useful.

Related Articles Is There a Known Cure for the Cold or Flu? Should I Get a Flu Vaccination This Year? What Can I Do at Home to Feel Better When I Catch a Cold or Flu? How Will I Know If a Cold or Flu Requires Medical Attention? What Is the Difference Between a Cold and the Flu?

External Sources American Academy of Family Physicians Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA Prevention and Control of Influenza: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Recomm Rept. 1999 April 30;48 (RR-4): 1-28. World Health Organization

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

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