A cold or is it flu?

A person I once asked mentioned a 24hr type flu where he was on his back in bed for a day.

How do you tell the difference?

Sometimes I get the symptoms of a cold which keeps me resting for a day or two and then it's gone. I think I just need to take it easier - body language. 🙂

@drewnogal said
A person I once asked mentioned a 24hr type flu where he was on his back in bed for a day.

How do you tell the difference?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Flu will wipe you out (for more than a day). A cold is usually manageable and still possible to get on with things.

@drewnogal

The problem with short lived viral illnesses is that you really have very little idea what they were. When people get a viral illness at it's worst it gets much easier to figure out what it was because it produces it's typical picture, but if people have it in a mild way it can mimic a 24 hour cold or even be asymptomatic.

Historically some people were found to be immune to polio after a 24 hour cold despite never receiving any vaccination. They had simply had the virus in the form of a mild cold and their body had then killed it off before it got established and developed into the serious illness that it can be.

Impossible to say what virus it was without a level of testing that nobody would do for a 24 hour self limiting illness, but since common things occur commonly it was probably a cold.

@drewnogal said
The UK is said to be heading for a huge flu outbreak this winter. Not yet had my flu jab and we 3 in our house suddenly got trachaeitis within a day of each other 5 days ago and still feeling unwell. One of us never even gets a cold so must be flu I guess as the other had a negative Covid test.

@drewnogal said
A person I once asked mentioned a 24hr type flu where he was on his back in bed for a day.

How do you tell the difference?

@drewnogal said
The UK is said to be heading for a huge flu outbreak this winter. Not yet had my flu jab and we 3 in our house suddenly got trachaeitis within a day of each other 5 days ago and still feeling unwell. One of us never even gets a cold so must be flu I guess as the other had a negative Covid test.

@badradger said
a long time back my eldest brother caught hongkong flu he passed out in the bathroom and spent over a week in bed.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Trust he made a full recovery.

Did he go on to become Hong Kong Fluey? (Niche joke.)

My doctor told me I have Tom Jones Syndrome.
I asked if it was common.
The doctor said, "It's not unusual."

@relentless-red said
@drewnogal

The problem with short lived viral illnesses is that you really have very little idea what they were. When people get a viral illness at it's worst it gets much easier to figure out what it was because it produces it's typical picture, but if people have it in a mild way it can mimic a 24 hour cold or even be asymptomatic.

Historically some people were ...[text shortened]... for a 24 hour self limiting illness, but since common things occur commonly it was probably a cold.

@drewnogal said
Some colds can make you feel rough and lethargic for days yet it sounds pathetic to ring in sick for work saying it’s because of a cold so we call it flu.

@relentless-red said
That's like claiming to have flu to have a sicky when you're sick anyway. If I tried that I'd probably get flu three weeks later which would then sound impossible. I'd have to say I was stuck at home due to wiper blade issues which sounds more pathetic than a cold. It's so much better just being retired.

@drewnogal said
Oh dear, the perished rubber issue rears it’s ugly head once again 🙂