Common cold and influenza

Western Differentiation: Common cold and influenza

• 1.
  Common cold: an upper respiratory infection caused by a cold virus.

  • a)
    Signs and symptoms: symptoms usually begin 2–3 days after infection and include runny nose; nasal congestion; sneezing; sore throat; postnasal drip; cough; headache.
  • b)
    Causes: most commonly by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Colds spread by airborne droplets when a person coughs or sneezes, or by hand contact.
  • c)
    Risk factors: children tend to have more colds than adults. Adults have built up immunity against some viruses.
• 2.
  Influenza: an upper respiratory infection caused by a flu virus.

  • a)
    Signs and symptoms: sudden-onset fever; sweating and feeling ill; general muscle aches and pains; tiredness; malaise; dry, chesty cough; sneezing; running or blocked nose; difficulty sleeping.
  • b)
    Causes: the influenza virus family contains three main types: A, B and C. Influenza viruses are known to mutate over time. Influenza A occurs more frequently and is more serious. It regularly produces varieties to which populations have no resistance, giving rise to pandemics.
  • c)
    Risk factors: flu can develop into a high fever, acute bronchitis, encephalitis and pneumonia. Risk of serious illness is higher in the elderly (over 65), babies and infants, people with chronic illness.

Chinese Differentiation: Common cold and influenza

Diagnostic questioning according to:

• 1.
  Four levels/aspects:

  • •
    Defensive qi (wei) aspect: wind heat.
  • •
    Qi aspect: external heat; strong body with organ function impaired but not badly; heat either in chest and diaphragm, stomach channel, or shaoyang channel.
  • •
    Nutritive qi (construction or ying) aspect: heart function is impaired, heat leading to burning of yin.
  • •
    Blood aspect: exacerbation of nutritive level, with heat causing bleeding (encephalitis, meningitis, acute leukaemia).
• 2.
  Six divisions:

  • •
    Taiyang: bladder and small intestine (cold).
  • •
    Yangming: stomach and intestines (strong pathogen, strong body, heat. Channel stage, organs not affected; organ stage, desiccating heat in intestine, constipation, delirium).
  • •
    Shaoyang: gallbladder and san jiao (midstage disease, half exterior, half interior).
• 3. Symptoms of phlegm: location (nose, throat, vomited); cough (dry, productive, loose, weak, forceful); colour/nature of phlegm (white, yellow, clear, blood-tinged, watery, thick, sticky).
• 4.
  Zangfu patterns:

  Defensive qi aspect	Wind cold invading the lung Wind heat invading the lung Wind dryness invading the lung
  Qi aspect	Lung heat Phlegm heat obstructing the lung Stomach heat/fire Gallbladder heat Damp heat in the stomach/spleen
  Nutritive qi aspect Blood aspect	Heat in pericardium Heat in the blood aspect Heat leading to stirring of internal wind Yin deficiency with lodged evil