Signs and Symptoms
The typical symptoms of a cold include cough, runny nose, nasal congestion and a sore throat, sometimes accompanied by muscle ache, fatigue, headache, and loss of appetite. A sore throat is present in about 40% of the cases and a cough in about 50%, while muscle ache occurs in about half. In adults, a fever is generally not present but it is common in infants and young children. The cough is usually mild compared to that accompanying influenza. While a cough and a fever indicate a higher likelihood of influenza in adults, a great deal of similarity exists between these two conditions. A number of the viruses that cause the common cold may also result in asymptomatic infections. The color of the sputum or nasal secretion may vary from clear to yellow to green and does not predict the class of agent causing the infection.
Read more about this topic: Common Cold
Famous quotes containing the words signs and/or symptoms:
“When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 16:2,3.
“Protest, evasion, merry distrust, and a delight in mockery are symptoms of health: everything unconditional belongs in pathology.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)