Common Cold Symptoms

Overview

Common cold occurs due to viral infection. It often affects the nose and throat. Symptoms of a common cold are sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing, cough either dry or productive cough, headaches, malaise, body aches, and low-grade fever. Common cold should not be mistaken for the flu. Common cold usually causes milder symptoms and low-grade fever compared to flu. Common cold is contagious and can spread through air droplets when the sick person sneezes, coughs or even talks. Some of the risk factors leading to common cold are a younger age group, weakened immune system and exposure to infected people. Common cold is usually diagnosed based on the signs and symptoms, hence it does not necessarily need further investigations. As for the treatment, common cold is not treated with antibiotics as the cause is not bacteria. The symptoms are often relieved after a week or so.