Most people know that the flu can kill. Indeed, the so-called Spanish flu killed 50 million people in 1918—more than were killed in the first world war. But what about the common cold? Can you really catch your death?
The cold is a collection of symptoms—coughing, sneezing, a runny nose, tiredness and perhaps a fever—rather than a defined disease. Although it shares a lot with the initial symptoms with the flu, it's a very different infection.