Flu or a cold?

When fever, cough and exhaustion set in, you often ask yourself: is it a cold or the flu? Most people want to get rid of their symptoms as quickly as possible. But is it that easy? Sonja Thüllen, Chief Pharmacy Officer at DocMorris pharmacy, explains what you can do if you've ‘caught it’.

Flu or a cold – what's the difference?
‘The symptoms such as cough, cold, pain and fever are similar, but they often differ in their severity – mild symptoms are rather unusual with the flu. True influenza usually manifests itself with a sudden onset of severe symptoms and a fever of up to 40 degrees. A doctor can determine whether it really is influenza by taking a throat or nose swab from the patient,’ explains the Chief Pharmacy Officer.

How can you protect yourself?
‘In the case of colds, flu and coronavirus, infection occurs via droplet infection – i.e. inhaling the air that others release when coughing or sneezing. The disease can also be transmitted when shaking hands or touching infected objects such as door handles,’ says Sonja Thüllen. She therefore advises: ‘If you're ill, it's better not to visit your grandparents or parents, but to fully recover first, as flu can trigger severe symptoms and become life-threatening, especially in older or chronically ill people.’ Resting is also important for yourself. After all, if you don't rest and recover, you risk serious complications such as pneumonia or myocarditis.

Faster recovery – is that possible?
‘There's a saying ‘A cold lasts seven days without treatment and a week with treatment’. In other words, you can alleviate annoying symptoms such as a blocked nose or cough – especially by drinking plenty of fluids to liquefy the mucus – but there is no cure for a cold,’ says the Chief Pharmacy Officer. The same applies to the flu or corona, except that the duration may vary. Symptom and pain-relieving, over-the-counter remedies such as nasal sprays or cough suppressants can be found at the DocMorris online pharmacy.

Media contact
Torben Bonnke, Director Communications
Email: media@docmorris.com
Phone: +49 171 864 888 1

DocMorris
DocMorris stands for customer-centred, innovative services and a wide range of digital healthcare products. These range from quickly making appointments to see a doctor online on the TeleClinic telemedicine platform to pharma-ceutical advice and the supply of prescription and over-the-counter medicines and healthcare products from Germa-ny's best-known online pharmacy. In addition, there is the marketplace with a broad complementary range of reme-dies and aids as well as products from the areas of nutrition, beauty and family. DocMorris thus provides its custom-ers with easy access to comprehensive healthcare services in one place with just one click. In the Germany segment, the Swiss company DocMorris AG generated external sales of CHF 976 million in 2023 with currently 10 million active customers.