In one of their pages for the populace, the CDC asks: “What is the difference between a cold and flu?”

Their answer is:

“Influenza (flu) and the common cold are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. Flu is caused by influenza viruses only, whereas the common cold can be caused by a number of different viruses, including rhinoviruses, parainfluenza, and seasonal coronaviruses. 

Seasonal coronaviruses should not be confused with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Because flu and the common cold have similar symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. In general, flu is worse than the common cold; symptoms are typically more intense and begin more abruptly. Colds are usually milder than flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose than people who have flu. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems like pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations. Flu can have serious associated complications.”

Can you spot the spin in the CDC’s education of the unruly populace and the fragile curtain of smoke obscuring what we think they are up to with their text?

This issue of telling apart the different causes of an acute respiratory infection often pops up in the news nowadays. The Telegraph, for example, thinks serious viruses are going around Britain – and advises on which one you might have.

Let's put aside the fact that they don't read the surveillance data or understand community respiratory pathogens (see last week's snapshot to know there are more than three), and consider the advice the Telegraph relies on: 

Is that right?  Has he worked in general practice then? With over 60 years of combined experience between us, we have yet to diagnose any infectious agent accurately. Indeed, as shown in the tales from the front line, diagnosing pneumonia, let alone the causative agent, is exceedingly challenging.

Given the primacy afforded to CDC advice, we thought we would unspin their text and make it more clinically realistic and evidence-based:

Instead of “#Fight Flu”, as the CDC wants to do, it might be better if they sought to provide evidence-based information on community respiratory agents. 

Lastly, why did the CDC gun for fighting the “flu” (meaning influenza) and not, say, rhinovirus or parainfluenza? Any comments?

Reading

Does This Patient Have Influenza? JAMA.2005;293(8):987–997. doi:10.1001/jama.293.8.987

Conclusions: “Clinical findings identify patients with influenza-like illness but are not particularly useful for confirming or excluding the diagnosis of influenza.”