Mind Your Self : NI Top 5's : Top 5 days off work

Flus and Coughs

Colds are miserable. And a great way to make someone doubly miserable is to tell them 'Sure, it’s only a cold!' Colds aren’t killers, but they don’t half ruin your day - even if you're off work and in bed!

How do I get a cold?

Colds are due to viruses which get into the lining of the nose, throat and eyes causing irritation. As the body fights off the viruses, it uses up the energy you wanted yourself, leaving you hot and cold and weak.

• Colds are due to viruses.

You can’t catch a cold just because you got a wetting (honestly, you can't), but if you're wet for a long time, you might reduce your defences enough that you can catch one from someone else.

Other things that reduce your defences are general ill health, poor sleep and poor eating.

How can I cure a cold?

We don’t have drugs to cure these viruses, so we have to sit it out and ease the symptoms as much as we can. Paracetamol helps your temperature settle and some decongestants can ease a blocked nose. Best cure of all is patience (not available on prescription), rest and a big hankie.

What's the difference between a cold and flu?

The viruses that cause flu are different from cold viruses. They set up a much more aggressive reaction in your body - not just nose and throat symptoms, but whole body pains and very severe weakness, sweating, loss of appetite and sleepiness. Headache and backache are common too. Flu lasts longer than colds, and recovery can take days. Perhaps the main difference is the degree of pain in the arms and legs – little in colds, a lot in a flu.

Treatment is the same as for a cold, however. Rest, rest and rest again - your body will cure you if you give it the chance. Don’t go in to work (if you are able to go to work, you probably don’t have the flu!), because you’ll just spread it around and maybe embarrass yourself by falling over.

Do antibiotics help fight the flu?

No. People often ask the doctor for these because they feel 'really, really sick'. That’s not the point – it doesn’t matter how sick your flu makes you, antibiotics won’t cure it.