Colds and flu are both respiratory illnesses caused by viruses, but they differ significantly in severity, symptoms, and timeline. Cold symptoms include a gradual onset over 1-2 days, a runny or stuffy nose (main symptom), sneezing and mild cough, a sore throat, little to no fever, and mild fatigue. By contrast, Flu symptoms are a sudden onset (you can feel fine in the morning and terrible by evening), a high fever (100-104°F) with chills, severe fatigue and weakness, significant body aches and muscle pain, headache, dry cough (can be severe), a sore throat (less common than with colds), and a runny nose (less common). Colds last 7-10 days and the acute impact of a flu is usually 3-7 days (with some lingering fatigue). We all know that a flu can lead to serious repercussions where colds rarely do. Common wisdom suggests that if you’re asking yourself “Is this a cold or flu?” it’s probably a cold. The flu typically makes you feel so awful that there’s no question something serious is wrong.
Lat Friday, Kim and I went into Walgreens and got our annual flue shot We also were asked if we wanted out COVID-19 shots. We both took both. Of course, we didn’t get a “cold” vaccine, because they don’t exist. We know that the COVID vaccine is very specific and while refined,has been more or less consistent since 2020. But flu shots are reformulated every year. The annual flu vaccine formulation is a fascinating global effort involving surveillance, prediction, and race-against-time manufacturing. The World Health Organization (WHO) coordinates with labs in over 100 countries that monitor circulating flu strains year-round. They track which viruses are spreading, where, and how they’re mutating. Key surveillance centers include the CDC in Atlanta (at least while it still exists), labs in London, Melbourne, Beijing, and Tokyo. Scientists analyze data from the previous flu season (especially from the opposite hemisphere, since their flu season happens 6 months earlier). They identify which strains are becoming dominant and how they’re evolving. Computer models help predict which variants will likely circulate in the upcoming season. Then, every February, WHO experts meet to decide which 4 strains to include in the Northern Hemisphere’s fall vaccine. They choose 2 influenza A strains (H1N1 and H3N2) and 2 influenza B strains. It is noteworthy that the two major strains vary in complex ways that involve species hopping and severity, but both are deemed necessary to protect against for humans. These decisions all happens 8-9 months before flu season starts. Then there is a manufacturing rush to produce hundreds of millions of doses using chicken eggs (each dose requires about one egg). Some newer methods use cell cultures or recombinant technology. It’s essentially an educated guess based on the best available science, with the entire pharmaceutical industry mobilized to produce vaccines based on that prediction.
Kim should probably not have had her shots because she was mildly ill at the time with colds rarely/flue symptoms. On Sunday, I started to feel a sore throat coming on. It;s Tuesday morning now and I have gone through a full some cold/flu symptom cycle (still not sure which it is). Kim has wondered aloud if I got this from my vaccinations. My research tells me that you cannot catch the flu from a flu vaccine. This is one of the most persistent myths about flu shots, but it’s medically impossible for several reasons. Injectable Flu Vaccines contain either “inactivated” (killed) virus or a single gene from the flu virus. Dead viruses cannot cause infection. There is the potential for an immune response with some people feeling mildly unwell as their immune system responds to the vaccine. Also, the vaccine takes 2 weeks to become fully effective, so you are only protected after that time. Therefore, I must have gotten my cold/flu from Kim.
This begs an age-old question…why do we have flu vaccines but not cold vaccines? To begin with, flu is caused by just a few types of influenza viruses (mainly A and B strains), while colds are caused by over 200 different viruses – mostly rhinoviruses (100+ types), but also coronaviruses, adenoviruses, and others. It’s much easier to target a few virus types than hundreds. Flu kills 12,000-52,000 Americans annually and hospitalizes hundreds of thousands. Colds are miserable but rarely life-threatening. Limited research resources go toward the bigger health threats…or at least they used to before RFK Jr. and Trump came on the scene. There is also the fact that flu viruses change in predictable patterns, allowing scientists to anticipate which strains will circulate each year, but cold viruses mutate differently and unpredictably. And last, but not least is the practicality of it all. Flu viruses trigger stronger, longer-lasting immune responses, whereas cold viruses often produce weaker immunity that doesn’t last long. You can catch colds from the same virus type repeatedly. So, a flu vaccine is cost-effective given flu’s impact on healthcare and lost productivity, but a cold vaccine would need to protect against so many viruses that it would be enormously complex and expensive to develop and much harder to justify financially.
“Grippe” is an older term for influenza (the flu). It comes from the French word “gripper,” meaning “to seize” or “to grasp,” referring to how the illness seems to suddenly “grip” or take hold of someone. The term was commonly used in English from the late 1700s through the early-to-mid 1900s, especially during major flu outbreaks like the 1918 influenza pandemic (sometimes called “la grippe”). In modern English, “grippe” has largely been replaced by “flu” or “influenza,” but you might still occasionally hear older people use the term, or see it in historical contexts.
In my quest this morning to understand my malady, I have a learned a fair bit about immunology as it pertains to me and my immediate concerns. I did not get this bug from my vaccinations and should be immune from future flu and COVID, at least for this coming season. I probably got it from Kim, who’s recent trip to NYC was probably the culprit. But there is still the delineation of cold versus flu. I am declaring that I have either a very fast and light cold or a very mild flu. The speed of progression is more flu-like, but the strength of the symptoms is more cold-like. “Feed a cold, starve a fever” is an old folk saying that suggests different approaches to eating when you’re sick with different ailments. However, modern medical understanding shows this advice isn’t quite right. The old saying means that when you have a cold, you should eat to maintain strength, but when you have a fever (as you would with the flu), you should avoid eating. What medical research actually shows us that both colds and fevers both benefit from proper nutrition and hydration. Your body needs energy and nutrients to fight off infections regardless of whether you have a cold or fever from flu. The better approach is to stay hydrated, eat if you can (preferably light, nutritious foods to help your immune system), listen to your body and focus on easy-to-digest foods like soups, broths, fruits, and vegetables, just like Grandma tried to teach you. So, the key is supporting your immune system with adequate nutrition and fluids in both cases.
Therefore, I am declaring my ailment La Grippe, just to confuse everyone, but I’ll do it while pounding down ice water and finding something light for lunch.