Combination cold and flu medication: What the pharmacist’s assistant should know

The common cold is the most common infectious illness in the general population. It is also the main reason for people missing work or school. The term ‘common cold’ refers to a mild viral upper respiratory tract infection that causes symptoms of a blocked and/or runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, lowgrade fever, headache and malaise. The common cold is not the same as influenza, although many people with a bad cold often report having the ‘flu’.