5 Myths About the Common Cold and Flu

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They are monsters and enemies of our existence during the winter months. The cold and it's quasi-partner, the flu, love to reach their human hosts through water droplets sprayed from sneezing. These germs also spread through mucus that might be on someone hands if they did not wash them. Both the cold and the flu gives us coughs, stuffy noses and aches, but they are not exactly the same thing. The flu (influenza virus) and the cold (different viruses) are both respiratory. However, they both are different in their severity. The cold causes many to miss work and the seasonal flu can be more life-threatening. The flu hospitalizes 200,000 people in the U.S. each year. It especially preys on the young and the elderly. An estimated 3,000 and 49,000 people are killed by the flu every year. In the meantime, while we are spreading various viruses and germs around, here are 5 myths regarding the common cold and the flu.

The Cold Won't Turn into the Flu

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Unlike what you might have heard, your cold will not turn into the flu. The common cold and the flu are both respiratory illnesses and both are caused by different viruses. The flu is caused by the influenza virus and the cold is caused by various viruses. The reason that they trick us is that they share the same symptoms like a cough, a runny nose or body aches and pains. Again, the flu causes more severe symptoms than the cold, such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness and joint pain the Huffington Post reported. "Colds don’t often send people to the hospital for complications – and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each year, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized." You either have a cold or you have the flu.