The differences of a cold vs swine flu are in how serious they are. A common cold is normally located at your head level. It doesn’t affect you systemically, so it is just a mild illness. The swine flu, which simply has a different strain of virus to the normal flu, is more serious, as fever always accompanies the flu. If you have a fever, it means the illness is systemic, so is more serious. But having a fever is also the body’s way of preventing a virus from taking hold. As long as you are strong enough to withstand a fever, it should never be brought down by the use of suppressive drugs. A fever also has some form of body ache, which a cold doesn’t. Again, body aches show something systemic. A flu can also have all or some of the normal cold symptoms, such as sneezing, coughing, runny nose, headache, restlessness, stuffed up feeling, sore throat. So the symptoms of a cold vs swine flu, or any flu come to that, is a question of location. Cold symptoms are limited to your head region. Flu symptoms are systemic, with body aches and a fever. And possibly some cold symptoms, as well. Both cold and flu symptoms can last from a day or two to weeks, depending on how healthy you are. What you choose for the solution of either, will determine when you get your next dose. Treating yourself holistically will start to take you towards better overall health. Treating yourself with drugs will make you more sick overall. Apart from eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies, getting out into the sun and exercising, as a preventer for future colds and flus, diving into the wonderful world of homeopathy and home prescribing for yourself, may open new doors for you. A simple kit which focuses on winter aliments is not expensive. It will come with instructions. And you might find a home study course, a book or a magazine helpful, too.