Cold vs. Allergy: How Do I Know the Difference?

Symptoms	Allergy	Cold
Stuffy or runny nose	Often	Often
Sneezing	Often	Often
Itchy eyes	Often	Rarely, never
Fever	Never	Often
Aches and pains	Never	Sometimes
Headache	Sometimes	Often
Cough	Sometimes	Often
Dizziness	Sometimes	Often
Hoarseness	Sometimes	Often
Recur at a certain time of year	Often	Rarely
Need for antibiotics	No	No
Warning time	Symptoms occur after exposure to allergen	Gets worse over several days
How long it lasts	As long as your child is exposed to the allergen	Usually three to 14 days

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Martin Health System
is a not-for-profit, community-based health care organization