Common Cold - Diagnosis

Colds are diagnosed by observing a person's symptoms. There are no laboratory tests to detect the cold virus. However, doctors sometimes do a throat culture or blood test to make sure the patient's symptoms are not caused by some other disease.

Influenza (or the flu; see influenza entry) is sometimes confused with the common cold. But the flu is accompanied by more severe symptoms, including a fever. Allergies (see allergies entry) often cause cold-like symptoms also. But allergy symptoms last much longer than cold symptoms. Exposure to cold air can also sometimes cause cold-like symptoms. However, these symptoms do not indicate the presence of a viral infection.