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The Difference In Flu, Common Cold VS Allergies
Every mother should know The Difference In Flu, Common Cold VS Allergies. Aren’t mothers always worried about what’s going on with their little ones?
Always wondering about their health, well-being, and lifestyle. With mothers already being finicky, the pandemic has made them even more protective of their children.
In the midst of all this, moms are seen worrying about whether that sneeze is because of a common cold, the impending flu, or an allergy that they are not aware of.
However, it is totally wise to pay attention to your children’s health and monitor when they are not feeling well. That one sneeze can just be the flu because of the changing weather but it can also be a sign of an existing allergy that you are unaware of.
So, how to be vigilant and tell the difference between these?
Let’s take a look at all of these illnesses separately and see the main Difference In Flu, Common Cold VS Allergies.
COMMON COLD
In Common Cold VS Allergies, The common cold is one of the most common diseases among growing children. The reason is that it is spread from one person to another.
When another person who has cold, sneezes, coughs or uses that dirty hand with another person, the disease can be transmitted. The virus then enters the body and incubates there.
Sometimes the immune system can fight it while the other times you can see the onset of earlier cold symptoms.
The early symptoms that your child has caught a common cold include a sore or scratchy throat. This is one of the early developments followed by a runny nose and sneezing for some too.
When you notice these discomforts and signs in your child, be aware that he or she might be coming down with a cold.
If your kid is young, you might have to be vigilant about these signs, as they might not be able to express the discomfort.
As time progresses, the cold develops into severe symptoms including cough, red eyes, thick nasal discharge, tiredness, lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting at times, and fever too. Your child can have some or all of these symptoms. It isn’t necessary that they are going to experience each of these.
If the symptoms are limited to these only, it is a common cold, and do not worry, it is usually not dangerous. These can take a total of somewhere 4 to 10 days to subside. For cold, know that it can be caught up to 4 times a year.
On the other hand, flu is likely to be caught once and allergies are a different story. Don’t worry, we are going to discuss them later here.
FLU
Flu is caused by the influenza virus and has various types. While the virus might sound dangerous, it is not per se, and with proper medication and care, it can be warded off easily.
The transmission and contracting of the virus are very similar to the common cold, as it is contagious.
The symptoms of the two are generally similar too. However, cold is generally milder while flu can be severe too. Moreover, a cold generally lasts for a few days while flu can take somewhere between a few days to weeks to completely go away.
Now coming to the symptoms of the flu so you can be sure, they are much like the common cold.
Your child might show signs of a high fever, headaches, extreme tiredness, cough, nausea leading to vomiting, muscle aches, and discomfort.
With flu, it is important to monitor your child’s breathing as they might suffer from discomfort due to a blocked nose. It is also significant to take them to a specialist in case the flu is severe because in kids it might cause integral breathing difficulty.
A specialist might put your child on anti-viral medication that could be taken for a few days. In doing so, the symptoms and the condition starts improving within two to five days.
Other than the medication, ensure that your child is getting a lot of rest and drinks a lot of fluid. They might feel like not eating so that’s fine but there should be no compromise on fluids at all. You can also use saline nasal drops to help with the blackened nose and ease the breathing procedure.
ALLERGY
Now allergies are a little hard to detect because they do not generally accompany the telltale symptoms of an illness and thus you might not notice it.
The common symptoms of allergies are similar to the other two with a stuffy or runny nose, cough, headache, fatigue, and sneezing.
One thing that can help you differentiate allergies from the rest is that it generally has a runny nose and sneezing as the most common symptoms.
Sometimes there can be rashes too. What’s more is that fever and aches, body pain, etc. are not caused by allergies so if your child has the former symptoms but no fever or physical discomfort then they might have an allergy that you are unaware of.
Allergies are caused by immune system vulnerability against external triggers and are most witnessed since birth. Your child does not contract them, and it is something that they are sensitive to.
However, when you doubt that your child might be allergic to something starts monitoring them to see what changes in the environment are causing them. They might have an indoor or outdoor allergy.
You can always go to a doctor and get tested for a better and foolproof answer. Allergies are treated by avoiding the cause and taking medication to control the symptoms. There are even allergy shots these days, which can help reduce the problem for a certain time.
In the end, getting an allergy test for your child is the most effective way to understand the cause of the symptoms and to help prevent them from happening or protecting your child against them.
These are the differences between the common cold, flu, and allergy. If you pay attention to these and observe your child, you would know what’s causing the problem and treat it effectively.
