Do You Have A Cold Or The Flu?

The cold and flu are both respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms and both are infections caused by viruses. The flu is caused by the influenza virus. A vaccine is produced for the most common strain of the influenza virus each year. While this vaccine is not guaranteed to be one hundred percent effective, it is still incredibly effective and does dramatically reduce the severity of a patient's illness should they still contract the flu. The cold is not as severe, while the flu can be life-threatening. An estimated 200,000 individuals are hospitalized with the flu and 36,000 of those die of the flu every year in the United States.