When Does a Common Cold Need a Doctor’s Visit? Ruling Out Flu, COVID-19 and Sinusitis

It is day five. The tissues are piling up beside the couch, your voice has dropped half an octave, and somewhere around 3 a.m. you started wondering whether this is still a cold or the beginning of something that deserves a name. Your partner says to wait it out. A coworker swears it sounds like the flu. The internet, as usual, offers every possible answer at once.

That uncertainty is the real problem with a cold: not the misery, which is predictable, but the not-knowing. Roughly 200 different viruses can produce the same sniffly, scratchy picture, and three other illnesses like to hide behind it. Flu tends to arrive like a slammed door. COVID-19 can look like almost anything. Sinusitis often sneaks in just as a cold should be leaving.

So the question of a cold and when to see a doctor comes down less to how bad you feel on a given morning and more to a small set of signals about timing, direction and who you are. Those signals are learnable, and this guide lays them out in the order a clinician would actually think about them.

What actually happens in your body during a common cold

A cold is an infection of the upper airway, meaning the nose, throat and sinuses, caused by a virus. Rhinoviruses are the most frequent culprits, but more than 200 viruses can be responsible, which is one reason you can catch cold after cold without building lasting protection. The virus enters through the nose or eyes, usually carried there by your own hands after touching a contaminated surface or by droplets from someone else’s cough.

Once inside, the virus copies itself in the cells lining the nasal passages. Most of what you then feel is not the virus itself but your immune system fighting back. Blood vessels in the nasal lining widen and leak fluid, which is why the nose swells shut and runs. Chemical messengers called cytokines, the signals immune cells use to coordinate a response, trigger the low-grade aches, fatigue and occasional mild fever. Mucus production ramps up to flush the invader out, and the color shift from clear to yellow or green reflects white blood cells doing their job, not a sign that bacteria have taken over.

Symptoms typically begin 1 to 3 days after exposure, according to MedlinePlus and Mayo Clinic, and you are most contagious in the first two or three days of feeling unwell. Adults average two to three colds a year; young children often catch more because their immune systems have met fewer viruses and because daycare and school are efficient exchanges for germs.

None of this is dangerous in itself. The body clears the infection without help in the overwhelming majority of cases. Understanding the mechanism matters because it explains why antibiotics do nothing here, why symptoms follow a fairly predictable arc, and why a departure from that arc is the single most useful clue that something else is going on.

How long should a cold last? The typical timeline

Ask a room of clinicians how long a cold lasts and you will hear the same range: about 7 to 10 days for most adults, with the NHS quoting one to two weeks. Mayo Clinic describes symptoms usually easing within 7 to 10 days, though some linger. That range is the yardstick against which every other question in this article gets measured.

The arc tends to be lopsided. The first day or two often bring a scratchy throat, sneezing and a runny nose with thin, clear discharge. Congestion, thicker mucus and a cough typically peak around days two to four. From day five onward, most people notice the trend reversing: the nose clears a little each morning, energy returns in patches, and the cough shifts from wet to dry.

A few things legitimately outlast the main illness. The NHS notes that a cough can persist for up to three weeks after other symptoms settle, because the irritated airway lining takes time to calm down. Children’s colds also run longer than adults’ colds on average, and a child who catches a second virus before the first has fully cleared can seem sick for a month without anything being wrong beyond bad luck.

The important distinction is between lingering and worsening. A cough that is fading slowly at day 14 is following the expected script. A fever that appears on day seven after you had been improving, or facial pain that builds when it should be easing, is not. The NHS advises seeing a GP if cold symptoms have not improved after three weeks, or at any point if they suddenly get worse. That three-week outer boundary, combined with the 10-day “is it improving?” checkpoint, forms the backbone of when to seek care.

What are the 5 stages of a cold?

The “five stages of a cold” is a popular internet framing rather than a formal medical classification, but it maps reasonably well onto what MedlinePlus and Mayo Clinic describe, so it is worth using as a mental timeline as long as you remember that real colds rarely read the manual.

Stage one is incubation, the 1 to 3 days after exposure when the virus multiplies but you feel fine. You may already be mildly contagious toward the end of this window.

Stage two is onset, usually day one or two of symptoms. A tickle or soreness in the throat is the classic first sign, followed by sneezing, watery eyes and a nose that runs clear.

Stage three is the peak, roughly days two through four. Congestion thickens, the nose may alternate between blocked and streaming, a cough begins, and fatigue and mild aches are common. A low fever can occur, especially in children, though adults with a cold often have none at all.

Stage four is the turn, around days five to seven. Mucus may be yellow or green, which is normal immune activity, and the cough may be at its most annoying even as the rest of you improves.

Stage five is recovery, from about day seven to day ten and sometimes beyond. Energy returns, the nose clears, and a dry cough may be the last thing standing.

Why does this matter for deciding on a doctor’s visit? Because the stages are supposed to move in one direction. A cold that reaches stage four and then slides back into a stage-three fever, or one that never leaves stage three after ten days, is the pattern clinicians pay attention to. The stages are a map for spotting detours, not a diagnosis.

Cold when to see a doctor: the simple rule of days

If you remember one thing from this article, make it this: with a cold, when to see a doctor is mostly a question of calendar and direction, not of how miserable a single afternoon feels. Three checkpoints cover most adult situations.

The first checkpoint is day 10. Mayo Clinic and the CDC both use this marker. A cold that has not started to improve by day 10 has stepped outside the expected range, and a call to your doctor’s office is reasonable even if nothing feels alarming. Persistent symptoms at this point are a common reason sinusitis is considered.

The second checkpoint is any reversal. Clinicians sometimes call this “double worsening”: you were getting better, then a fever returns, congestion thickens again, or a new symptom such as ear pain or chest discomfort appears. The CDC lists this pattern among the signs that a sinus infection may have followed a cold. A reversal does not wait for day 10; it warrants a call whenever it happens.

The third checkpoint is three weeks. The NHS advises seeing a GP if symptoms have not improved after that point, even if they are mild. A cough alone can still be settling, but three weeks of ongoing congestion, fatigue or throat symptoms deserves an exam.

Layered over all three is a set of same-day signals that override the calendar entirely: trouble breathing, chest pain, a high or rising fever, confusion, or coughing up blood. Those belong in the “When to call your doctor” section further down and apply on day one as much as day ten.

The rule of days is not a promise that anything short of these thresholds is fine. It is a way of turning a vague worry into a specific, answerable question you can bring to your care team, who will make the actual call.

Cold vs flu vs COVID symptoms: how to tell them apart

The honest answer is that you often cannot tell these three apart by symptoms alone, and the CDC says as much. All are respiratory viral infections, all can cause cough, congestion, sore throat and fatigue, and the only reliable way to distinguish flu from COVID-19 is a test. What symptoms can do is shift the odds and tell you whether a test and a phone call are worth it.

Feature	Common cold	Influenza	COVID-19
How it starts	Gradual, over a day or two	Sudden, often within hours	Variable; can be gradual or sudden
Fever	Rare in adults, mild in children	Common, often high	Common, varies widely
Body aches	Mild	Often severe	Common
Runny or stuffy nose	Very common	Sometimes	Sometimes
Loss of taste or smell	Only from congestion	Uncommon	Reported, less common with recent variants
Time from exposure to symptoms	1–3 days	1–4 days	2–14 days, most often about 5
Usual course	7–10 days	A few days to under 2 weeks	Mild cases about 1–2 weeks; can be longer

Sources for the table: Mayo Clinic (cold), CDC (flu and COVID-19 comparison), NHS (flu).

The most useful single clue is the opening scene. People with flu frequently describe feeling fine at lunch and flattened by dinner, with aches that make the bedsheets hurt. Colds creep. COVID-19 refuses to follow one script, which is precisely why testing exists.

Why bother distinguishing? Because flu and COVID-19 have prescription antiviral medicines that work by interfering with how the virus copies itself, and they are most useful when started early in the illness, typically within the first couple of days. Whether one is appropriate for you depends on your age, health conditions and how sick you are, and that decision belongs to the clinician who assesses you. A cold has no such treatment, which is why a cold that behaves like flu is worth a call rather than a wait.

Is it a sinus infection after a cold? Spotting sinusitis

Sinusitis is inflammation of the sinuses, the air-filled spaces in the bones of the face that drain into the nose. Almost every cold inflames them a little, which is why your cheeks and forehead feel heavy on day three. That is not a sinus infection; it is the cold doing what colds do.

The concern arises when swelling blocks the tiny drainage openings, mucus pools behind them, and either the viral inflammation drags on or bacteria multiply in the trapped fluid. The CDC and Mayo Clinic point to two patterns that make bacterial sinusitis more likely: symptoms that have lasted more than 10 days without improving, or symptoms that improved and then clearly worsened again. Facial pain or pressure that is one-sided or worse when bending forward, thick discolored discharge, reduced sense of smell and upper tooth pain are the features clinicians look for, though none of them is decisive on its own.

What surprises many people is that most sinusitis, even the kind that meets those criteria, is still viral and still clears without antibiotics. The NHS notes that acute sinusitis usually resolves within two to three weeks. Guidelines from the CDC recommend a period of watchful waiting in many otherwise healthy adults because antibiotics do not shorten viral sinusitis and carry side effects of their own.

So how should this shape your decision? A cold that is improving at day eight with some facial heaviness can be managed at home. A cold at day 11 that has never improved, or one that bounced back with new facial pain and fever, is a reasonable reason to be examined. Your clinician may look in your nose and ears, check for tenderness over the sinuses, and weigh whether the timeline and your overall health justify treatment or another week of watching. The choice sits with them, informed by what you can describe about the days leading up to the visit.

Signs a cold is getting serious rather than just annoying

There is a meaningful difference between a cold that is unpleasant and a cold that has become something requiring evaluation. Most of the frightening-sounding features of an ordinary cold, including green mucus, a deep chesty cough and a night of sweats, are within the normal range. What clinicians watch for instead are signs that the infection has moved beyond the upper airway or that the body is struggling to cope.

Breathing is the headline. A cold makes your nose stuffy; it should not make it hard to draw a full breath, cause wheezing, or leave you short of breath walking to the kitchen. Any of these suggest the lower airways or lungs may be involved, which raises the possibility of bronchitis, pneumonia or an asthma flare, and warrants same-day contact with a clinician.

Fever is the second signal, especially its behavior over time. Mayo Clinic advises adults to seek care for a fever above 101.3°F (38.5°C), for any fever lasting five days or more, or for a fever that returns after a fever-free period. Adults with simple colds often have no fever at all, so a significant one already tilts the odds toward flu or another infection.

Pain that localizes is the third. Severe sore throat that makes swallowing difficult, sharp ear pain, marked facial or sinus pain, or a headache that feels unlike your usual congestion headache each points toward a complication such as strep throat, ear infection or sinusitis that may need specific treatment.

Systemic signs round out the list: confusion, unusual drowsiness, inability to keep fluids down, or a general sense of deteriorating rather than plateauing. These are uncommon with colds and should not be waited out. The purpose here is not to invite self-diagnosis but to give you the vocabulary to describe what has changed when you call.

Who is usually asked to come in sooner, and who is usually asked to wait

The same cold does not carry the same risk for everyone, and clinicians openly adjust the threshold for a visit depending on who is asking. Knowing which group you fall into changes the calculation more than any single symptom.

Healthy adults and older children with a typical cold are usually asked to manage at home and watch the calendar. Rest, fluids, and the checkpoints described earlier cover the vast majority of cases. A phone call or a virtual visit is often enough to talk through whether anything has strayed off course.

Several groups are generally encouraged to call earlier, sometimes at the first sign of illness. The CDC and NHS identify adults aged 65 and over, pregnant people, and anyone with chronic lung disease such as asthma or COPD, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease or a weakened immune system from illness or medication as being at higher risk of complications from respiratory infections. For these groups, what looks like a cold may be flu or COVID-19 for which early antiviral treatment could be considered, and a simple infection is more likely to progress to pneumonia. Earlier contact allows a clinician to decide whether testing or closer follow-up makes sense.

Infants sit in their own category and are covered in the next section, but the short version is that babies under three months with any fever should be seen promptly.

People who fall between these groups, such as a healthy 55-year-old with well-controlled high blood pressure, are often surprised to learn that the answer is still “probably wait, but call if it changes.” Risk is a spectrum, not a switch. If you are unsure which side of the line you sit on, that uncertainty itself is a good reason for a quick phone conversation with your care team rather than a guess.

Children and colds: when parents should pick up the phone

Children catch more colds than adults, often six to eight a year in the early years according to Cleveland Clinic and the CDC, and each one seems to last longer, so parents spend a lot of time asking whether this particular runny nose is the one that needs a visit. The reassuring fact is that most do not. The complicating fact is that young children cannot tell you where it hurts, and the signs that matter are different from those in adults.

Age sets the first rule. Mayo Clinic advises that any infant under 12 weeks with a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher should be evaluated, because young babies can become unwell quickly and have limited reserves. Breathing counts more than temperature at every age. Fast breathing, flaring nostrils, grunting, the skin pulling in between the ribs with each breath, or a blue tinge around the lips are reasons to seek care immediately, not to wait for morning.

Hydration is the next watch point. A child who is drinking less, has noticeably fewer wet diapers, or has no tears when crying may be becoming dehydrated. Fever that keeps rising, a fever lasting more than two days in a child of any age, ear pain or ear tugging, and unusual sleepiness or irritability that does not settle with comfort all warrant a call, per Mayo Clinic’s guidance.

Duration follows the same logic as in adults, with more slack: a cold that has shown no improvement after 10 days, or one that improves and then worsens with a new fever, should be discussed with your child’s clinician.

Preparation helps the visit itself. Note when symptoms started, the highest temperature you measured, how much the child is drinking, and anything that changed. Bring a favorite toy or blanket; a calmer child is easier to examine, and the examination is what turns your worry into an answer. Any decision about medicine, including fever reducers, rests with the child’s clinician.

What a doctor's visit for a cold actually involves

People sometimes avoid calling because they imagine being told “it’s just a cold” and sent home. That does happen, and it is a good outcome, but the visit is more purposeful than it looks from the outside. The clinician is essentially running the same timeline questions this article describes, then adding an examination that you cannot do yourself.

The conversation comes first. Expect questions about when symptoms began, whether they have been improving or worsening, the pattern of any fever, who else at home is sick, and your underlying health conditions. This history often does more diagnostic work than anything else in the room.

The examination is brief and targeted. A look in the throat checks for the redness, swelling or white patches that can suggest strep. The ears are checked for fluid or a bulging eardrum. Gentle pressure over the cheeks and forehead assesses sinus tenderness. Listening to the chest with a stethoscope is the key step for anyone with cough or breathing symptoms, because crackles or wheezes can point to bronchitis, pneumonia or asthma in a way no symptom description can. A pulse oximeter clipped to a finger measures how much oxygen the blood is carrying.

Testing depends on what the history suggests. Rapid swabs for flu, COVID-19 and sometimes RSV, a common respiratory virus, can return results within minutes to an hour and matter most when a positive result would change management, such as making someone eligible for an antiviral. A throat swab may be taken if strep is suspected. Chest imaging is reserved for cases where pneumonia is a real concern.

Many of these visits now happen by phone or video first, with an in-person exam arranged only if needed. Whatever form it takes, the outcome is a plan: watch and call back, test, or treat, decided by the clinician who has seen you.

What actually helps a cold, and what antibiotics cannot do

No medicine shortens a common cold. That sentence disappoints people every winter, and it is worth sitting with, because most of the decisions about a doctor’s visit make more sense once you accept it.

What does help is supporting the body while it does the work. Rest matters more than people give it credit for; the immune response is metabolically expensive. Fluids keep mucus thinner and easier to clear. Warm liquids, saline nasal rinses or sprays, a humidifier and honey for cough in anyone over one year old are all listed by the NHS and Mayo Clinic as reasonable comfort measures. Over-the-counter medicines can ease specific symptoms such as fever, aches or congestion, but they treat how you feel, not how long the virus stays. Which, if any, are suitable for you depends on your other health conditions and medications, so that conversation belongs with a pharmacist or clinician, particularly for children and for anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure.

Antibiotics deserve their own paragraph because the misunderstanding around them is so persistent. Antibiotics kill bacteria. Colds are caused by viruses, which are a different kind of organism entirely, and antibiotics have no effect on them, a point the CDC makes repeatedly. Taking them for a cold does not shorten it, does not prevent it turning into something worse, and does expose you to side effects and to the wider problem of antibiotic resistance. Green mucus does not change this.

Where antibiotics do have a role is in the minority of cases where a bacterial complication has developed: some sinus infections that meet the duration or double-worsening criteria, some ear infections, strep throat and bacterial pneumonia. Distinguishing those from a lingering virus is exactly what the examination and tests in a visit are for, and it is why the decision to prescribe is one only your treating clinician can make.

What the following days and weeks usually look like

Suppose you have made the call, or decided you did not need to, and the cold is running its course. What does recovery realistically look like, and at what point does “still recovering” quietly become “should have been better by now”?

In the first week, expect the pattern described in the stages section: worst around days two to four, then a turn. Energy tends to return unevenly. A good morning followed by a wiped-out afternoon is normal and does not signal relapse. Sleep may be disrupted by congestion and cough, which itself prolongs the tired feeling.

By days seven to ten, most adults feel largely themselves apart from residual congestion and a cough. This is the window where the two questions that matter are simply “Am I better than three days ago?” and “Has anything new appeared?” If both answers are the right ones, keep going.

Weeks two and three are the cough’s territory. The NHS notes that a post-viral cough can persist for up to three weeks as the inflamed airway lining settles. It should be dry or only mildly productive, worse at night or with cold air, and gradually less frequent. A cough that becomes more productive, brings up discolored or bloody sputum, or is joined by fever or breathlessness is not following that pattern.

Sinus heaviness and a muffled sense of smell can also trail behind, but should be easing week by week. The NHS puts the usual outer limit for acute sinusitis at two to three weeks.

Returning to work, school or exercise is a judgment call about energy and about contagiousness. You are most infectious in the first two to three days and progressively less so afterward. Gentle activity when you feel up to it is fine; a hard workout during the peak is unlikely to help and may deepen the fatigue. Anything still unresolved at three weeks is, per NHS guidance, a reason to be seen.

What people often get wrong about colds and doctor's visits

The myths around colds are remarkably durable, and several of them directly shape whether people call a doctor at the right moment. Correcting them is not pedantry; it changes decisions.

Myth one: green or yellow mucus means a bacterial infection that needs antibiotics. It does not. The color comes from an enzyme in white blood cells responding to any infection, viral included. The CDC is explicit that mucus color alone should not drive antibiotic use. Duration and direction of symptoms matter far more.

Myth two: a cold can turn into the flu. Colds and flu are caused by different viruses. A cold cannot transform into influenza, though you can catch flu on the heels of a cold, and a cold can occasionally be followed by a bacterial complication such as sinusitis or an ear infection. Those are separate events, not a metamorphosis.

Myth three: going out with wet hair or getting chilled causes a cold. Exposure to cold air does not create a virus. Colds cluster in winter mainly because people spend more time indoors together and because some viruses spread more readily in cooler, drier air.

Myth four: if you have a fever, you must have something worse than a cold. In children, mild fever with a cold is common. In adults it is less typical, which is why a notable fever nudges the likelihood toward flu or COVID-19, but it is a probability shift, not a rule.

Myth five: waiting the full ten days means ignoring everything until then. The 10-day checkpoint applies to a cold that is otherwise behaving. Breathing difficulty, high fever or a clear reversal override it on any day.

Myth six: vitamin C, zinc or echinacea will make the cold go away quickly. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements summarizes the evidence as mixed at best, with any effect on duration small and inconsistent. They are not a reason to delay a call if warning signs appear.

Questions to ask your care team about a cold that will not quit

A visit or phone call goes better when you arrive with the right questions, partly because it forces you to organize the story of your illness, and partly because it makes clear what you actually want to know. These are the ones that tend to produce useful answers.

• Based on my timeline, does this still look like a cold, or does something in the history suggest flu, COVID-19 or sinusitis?
• Would a test change what you recommend? If so, which one and how quickly would results come back?
• Given my age and health conditions, is there anything about my situation that means I should be watched more closely than usual?
• What specific changes should prompt me to call back, and which ones mean I should not wait for a callback but seek urgent care?
• If you are not prescribing anything today, what is the reasoning, and at what point would that reasoning change?
• Is my regular medication affected by being unwell, or by any over-the-counter product I might consider for symptoms?
• How long would you expect this cough or congestion to last after the rest clears, and when does “lingering” become something you would want to reassess?
• Can I return to work, school or exercise, and roughly when am I likely to stop being contagious?
• For a child: what signs of breathing trouble or dehydration should I check for tonight, and how do I reach someone after hours?

Write the answers down or ask for them in a message; details blur when you are tired and congested. If you have been given a watch-and-wait plan, ask for the specific date by which you should be improved, so the plan has a built-in review point rather than an open end. Every one of these questions leaves the decision where it belongs, with the clinician examining you, while ensuring you leave understanding why.

When to call your doctor: red flags that should not wait

Most of this article has been about patience, because patience is the right response to most colds. This section is about the exceptions. The signs below come from Mayo Clinic, the NHS and the CDC and represent situations where a cold, or what you assumed was a cold, needs a clinician’s assessment promptly rather than at the next checkpoint.

Seek urgent or emergency care the same day, or call emergency services, for difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or persistent pressure, a bluish or gray tinge to lips or face, confusion or difficulty staying awake, a stiff neck with fever, coughing up blood, or in a child, fast or labored breathing, ribs pulling in with each breath, a very high fever with lethargy, or signs of dehydration such as no wet diapers for many hours.

Call your doctor’s office promptly, meaning within a day, for a fever above 101.3°F (38.5°C) in an adult, any fever lasting five days or more, or a fever that returns after you had been fever-free; any infant under 12 weeks with a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher; a child of any age with fever lasting more than two days, ear pain, or unusual drowsiness; severe sore throat, severe headache, or marked facial or sinus pain; symptoms that were improving and have clearly worsened again; and cold symptoms of any severity if you are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or have a chronic lung, heart, kidney or immune condition.

Arrange a routine appointment for a cold that has not started improving after 10 days, or symptoms of any kind still present at three weeks.

None of these lists can be exhaustive, and your own sense that something is wrong counts. If you are worried enough to be searching for whether to call, that is usually reason enough to make the call and let a professional decide.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I wait to see a doctor with a cold?

For a healthy adult, wait until day 10 if the cold is steadily improving and nothing alarming appears; a cold still present at three weeks should be seen regardless. Do not wait at all for breathing difficulty, high or returning fever, severe pain or a clear reversal of improvement. Higher-risk groups, including older adults and people with chronic conditions, are usually advised to call earlier.

What are the 5 stages of a cold?

The popular five-stage model is incubation (1 to 3 days after exposure), onset (sore throat and sneezing), peak (congestion and cough around days two to four), the turn (thicker mucus but improving energy, days five to seven), and recovery (days seven to ten, with cough sometimes lingering). It is a helpful timeline rather than a formal medical classification.

How do I know if a cold is serious?

The signals clinicians rely on are breathing difficulty, a fever that is high, prolonged or returns after fading, localized severe pain in the throat, ear or face, confusion or unusual drowsiness, and symptoms that worsen after improving. Feeling wretched on a single day is not the same as being seriously ill; direction over time is what matters.

Can a cold heal in 2 days?

A very mild cold can leave you feeling much better within a couple of days, but the typical course is 7 to 10 days, and lingering congestion or cough is usual. A two-day illness that vanishes may have been a light viral exposure or an allergy flare. Feeling better quickly is fine; feeling better and then worse again is the pattern worth calling about.

How long should a cold last before I worry?

Colds usually run 7 to 10 days, with a cough that may persist up to three weeks. The two checkpoints are day 10 with no sign of improvement and day 21 with any symptoms still present; either is a reasonable reason to be seen. Any sudden worsening at any point overrides the calendar.

What are the main differences in cold vs flu vs COVID symptoms?

Colds usually start gradually with a sore throat and runny nose and rarely cause fever in adults. Flu tends to hit suddenly with high fever and severe aches. COVID-19 can resemble either and varies widely. Symptoms alone cannot reliably separate flu from COVID-19; a test can, and testing matters most for people who might benefit from early antiviral treatment.

How do I know if I have a sinus infection after a cold?

Clinicians suspect sinusitis when cold symptoms last more than 10 days without improving, or improve and then worsen with facial pain or pressure, thick discolored discharge and sometimes fever. Most sinusitis is still viral and settles within two to three weeks; an examination helps decide whether watchful waiting or treatment is appropriate.

What are the signs a cold is getting serious in a child?

Fast or labored breathing, ribs pulling in with each breath, a blue tinge to the lips, fewer wet diapers, unusual sleepiness, ear pain, or fever lasting more than two days all warrant a call. Any infant under 12 weeks with a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher should be seen promptly.

Do I need antibiotics for a cold that will not go away?

Antibiotics do not work against the viruses that cause colds and will not shorten one. They are considered only when a bacterial complication is likely, such as sinusitis meeting the duration or double-worsening criteria, strep throat, or an ear infection. Whether that applies to you is a decision for the clinician who examines you.

Is it normal to still be coughing three weeks after a cold?

A dry, gradually fading cough for up to three weeks after a cold is within the range the NHS describes, because the irritated airway lining takes time to settle. A cough that is getting more productive, bringing up discolored or bloody sputum, or accompanied by fever or breathlessness is not typical and should be assessed.

References

• MedlinePlus: Common Cold
• NHS: Common cold
• CDC: Similarities and Differences between Flu and COVID-19
• NHS: Sinusitis (sinus infection)

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.