Do you have the flu or should you stop complaining?

On Tuesday I called my mother, she sounded a bit like she was underwater. A nose so nasal that you could honk with it and the fever was almost breathing through the phone. Sick, but really sick. In the category back-to-bed and having a love-hate relationship with your blankets all day, because sometimes too warm and sometimes too cold, that sick. But when are you sick and when are you just cold and should you not complain?

At the beginning of January, everyone was still very optimistically wondering where that flu wave was, but it’s here, and in full swing. One virus is currently a bit worse than the other, yes (understatement), but I’m talking about the common flu that comes out every year. How to recognize it, when can you officially stay home, and let’s immediately look at the differences between flu and the proverbial cold.

You have the flu with the following symptoms:

1. Fever, let that be clear.
2. Chills, which often go hand in hand with fever.
3. A runny nose, just like with a cold.
4. Feeling very tired, which goes along with poor sleep.
5. Not wanting to eat.
6. Headache.
7. The sore throat, of course.
8. And you got that partly due to a dry cough.
9. Pain in your limbs.
10. That oh so recognizable muscle pain.
11. Getting out of breath while you’re actually doing nothing.

You are ‘just’ cold with these symptoms:

1. The runny nose.
2. Which then also gets blocked.
3. The sore throat.
4. Sneezing very hard (at least, that’s what I always do).
5. A slight fever, so no fever.
6. The tears in your eyes.
7. Just a bit more tired, not to be confused with exhausted.
8. Also that headache again.
9. And ear pain.
10. Finally: coughing.

And one lesson: with contagiousness you stay home. No one is waiting for sniffling next to them at the office with the chance of infection.

Source: well-informed circles