TLPTP WINS THREAD ... err ... dunno ... what is 26 good for ?

The 'common cold' is an upper respiratory tract infection ( URTI ) caused by a group of viruses which are evidently quite good at getting about using snot, mucous et al as a vehicle. The ability to produce airways irritation and thus coughing and sneezing is a selected trait ie. viruses that do that do better than viruses that don't, because more hosts get infected that way. A study by Cardiff researchers has shown that it takes merely around 20 minutes to have an even chance of spreading from one person's membranes to another, and that's just by quiet breathing in the same airspace. Distribution/projection by shotgun snotting to create an infectious aerosol ramps that risk right up. This is why it is important for people to at least give a mild crap about those they share some common breathing volume with aka : simple decency, handerkerchiefs or pissing off somewhere to be by yourself. By and large the symptoms are confined to the neck up eg. headache, runny nose, sore throat, and telling everyone else about it via YouTwitFace. There could be a fever and lethargy and other symptoms indicating immune system response. The better your immunity is the worse your symptoms may be though .....

Influenza does come in via inhalation from airborne spread and get into the lower airways ( LRTI ). That's below the larynx ( voice box ) ie. your lungs and the large tubes ( trachea, bronchi .... ) that ventilate it. This has a far greater propensity to cause mischief because the gas exchange b/w you and the planet's atmosphere happens in here. In general the flu gives far greater systemic symptoms and some very annoying chest ones : shortness of breath, chest pain, maybe wheeze and the odd case of turning blue as the oxygen is not getting to the bloodstream. The first organ to suffer from lower O2 is the brain. The nasty follow on here is a secondary bacterial pneumonia which has taken advantage of your mucous membrane upset to sneak in and establish. The timeline for that variant is getting better and then getting worse again, it's a pretty safe bet that symptoms beyond five days and not improving has that additional bacterial component. Mr Murphy is very active in medicine and enforces the rule that having one diagnosis does not exclude another. Overall the flu flattens people into the horizontal bed position, whereas with the cold you can still walk, talk, chew gum and commit armed robberies.

All of the above assumes pre-existing OK immune system function. Your health and outcomes are rather more prejudiced if say diabetes, heart disease, lung disease etc are present or co-exist. So don't go visiting nursing homes, cancer wards, newborns, or your mate who has just survived any major illness.

{ Knock, knock. Who's there ? Common sense ..... }

Cheers, Mike.

( edit ) I like the yellow jacket. It would contrast nicely with any luminous green sputum ..... :-)

BTW : those emergency dye markers that sailors use when the ship goes down is compounded from pooled human snot. Hah ! And they go on about it being a vegetable derivative or something .... LOL .... :-))

( edit ) Due to constant exposure my immunity is quite good. So I won't get the zombie virus when it turns up. However that means I'll have to shoot all of you lot in the head when you craze for my brains. Note that I said 'when' not 'if'. But I'll be polite. I promise. Oh hello, have you all come to visit me at once have you ?  Sorry David, bang. Sorry Dr Bacon, bang. Sorry Annie, bang. Sorry Phil, bang. Sorry Chris, bang bang ( double tap that old codger ). Sorry Mikey & Gary, bang bang ..... ooops, you two didn't have the virus did you ?