Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox Baker

Colds, he said, gesturing in wide circles to his head, are felt mostly up here. The flu, he added, grandly gesturing to below-the-neck part of the body, is more likely to painfully affect this area.

The Iowa Department of Public Health recently released a check list of the differences between the two types of virus. Here you go:

1. Influenza has an abrupt, significant onset.

A. Colds may come on slowly, with mild symptoms.

2. Influenza infections involve a fever of 100 F or greater and a cough and/or sore throat.

A. Colds may result in a low-grade fever.

3. In addition to respiratory symptoms, persons with influenza often have body aches, chills, and extreme malaise. Influenza duration in adults is a few days to two weeks.

A. Colds often linger longer than influenza, but symptoms overall are more mild

4. Influenza may result in serious complications like pneumonia, which lead to hospitalization.

A. Colds generally do not.