The common cold: possible complications

The cold weather brings many cases of the common cold. One of the main questions consultants ask themselves is how it evolves and what its most frequent complications are.

To begin with, you should remember that a common cold usually lasts between four days and a week, although if it spreads to the bronchi causing acute bronchitis, it lasts around two weeks. The evolution is different in smokers and non-smokers. In smokers, the evolution from a common cold to a bacterial superinfection is more frequent than in non-smokers, as is the case with pneumonia. Colds can have complications depending on the virus that causes it, for example, colds caused by rhinovirus tend to be milder than the ones caused by flu viruses.

High fever

When high fever is a symptom of the cold it is especially worrying as it can cause complications, such as episodes of unpleasant seizures, especially in young patients, where a combination of antipyretics (fever-reducing drugs) may be a solution. If for example, the patient is taking paracetamol, they can add aspirin and even a third medication such as metamizole. If the high temperature cannot be reduced with medicine, a warm bath and drinking cold water or broth are classic common cold remedies that can help to lower the internal body temperature which will bring down the overall body temperature.

Pus on the tonsils

Another common symptom of a cold is the appearance of white patches or pus on the tonsils. In this case, it is purulent tonsillitis, which is most commonly caused by streptococcal or anaerobic germs, and should always be treated with antibiotics. Amoxicillin is the best option and the dose of the antibiotic should be high if other complications are to be avoided.

Chest pain or tightness

If chest pain or tightness are among the symptoms of the common cold, the first action should be a chest x-ray. Additionally, if the chest pain increases when breathing and a fever is present, it is probably pneumonia, which should be confirmed by the chest X-ray. When there is difficulty breathing, it may be because the patient suffers from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In these cases, the patient should go to a hospital because serious pneumonia or influenza pneumonia have not been ruled out.

Avoid complications

Most of the time, if the patient doesn’t have any of these complications, the best treatment for the common cold is antipyretic medicine, combined with age-old, practical advice or a combination of drugs consisting of antihistamines, caffeine and antipyretics. Of course, antibiotics should be taken when there are complications, but not as a preventative measure, although they can be used for some minor symptoms, such as earache and yellow sputum (mucus).