Health Tip: Do I Have a Cold or Flu?

They may have similar symptoms, but flu is more severe

February 6, 2009 RSS Feed Print

(HealthDay News) -- If you're sneezing, coughing and have a fever, do you know how to tell whether you've caught a cold or have the flu?

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this list of cold symptoms, and how to tell them apart from symptoms of the flu:

In general, cold symptoms are milder and come on slowly, while symptoms of the flu tend to occur very suddenly.
It's probably a cold if you have a fever no higher than 102 degrees. The flu usually causes fevers higher than that.
It's probably a cold if you have symptoms including a congested or runny nose, sneezing and coughing, watery eyes, and a sore throat.
Symptoms of the flu often include nausea, chills, sweats, vomiting, muscle aches, and loss of appetite.