What Are the Hazards of a Prolonged Cold?

When a cold lasts for too long, it is necessary to go to the hospital for a comprehensive physical examination to ensure that there are no other serious diseases in the body. Sometimes, patients may develop complications such as allergic rhinitis and other infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to these symptoms and to treat them accordingly in order to achieve better treatment results and reduce the harm caused by the cold.

Allergic Rhinitis

The clinical symptoms of allergic rhinitis are similar to those of the common cold and can be easily confused. However, there are some differences between them:

1. Sudden onset: Allergic rhinitis can occur suddenly within minutes and the symptoms may disappear within minutes to 2 hours.
2. Nasal itchiness, frequent sneezing, and clear runny nose.
3. Symptoms are related to changes in temperature or exposure to allergens in the environment.
4. Physical examination may reveal pale and edematous nasal mucosa, and eosinophilia may be seen in nasal secretions.

Influenza

Patients with influenza may present with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection, but they typically have the following characteristics:

1. Highly contagious and often epidemic in large areas.
2. Sudden onset with severe systemic symptoms including chills, high fever, body aches, and conjunctival inflammation.
3. Relatively mild symptoms and signs of nasopharyngeal inflammation.
4. The virus is influenza virus, and a definitive diagnosis can be made through virus isolation or serology if necessary.

Acute Infectious Diseases

Some acute infectious diseases (such as measles, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, poliomyelitis, typhoid, and typhus) often present with upper respiratory tract symptoms in the early stages of the illness. Close observation and necessary laboratory tests should be performed during the epidemic season or in epidemic areas to aid in diagnosis.

1. Measles: Upper respiratory tract infection symptoms are prodromal symptoms, and about 90% of patients may develop grayish-white spots (Koplik's spots) on the buccal mucosa near the second maxillary molar 2-3 days after the onset of the illness. These spots are not present in upper respiratory tract infections without measles.
2. Epidemic hemorrhagic fever: The main source of infection is rodents, and the epidemic has a regional distribution. Symptoms may include headache, low back pain, eye socket pain (commonly known as the "three pains"), fever, bleeding, and kidney damage. Typical patients may experience five stages: febrile stage, hypotensive shock stage, oliguric stage, polyuric stage, and convalescent stage. Upper respiratory tract infections have mild systemic toxic symptoms and are mainly characterized by nasal and pharyngeal catarrhal symptoms.