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CPD CREDITS
CPD ACTIVITY
49
RET AIL PHARMA C Y • MA Y 2020
Dr Moses Mutie BVM. MPharm (Rch), Grad Dip (HealthSt), PhD
Moses has broad health and medical knowledge rooted in his qualification in Veterinary Medicine. He studied Master of Pharmacy (Research) at
the University of Canberra, after which he conducted PhD research evaluating travel health issues among international travellers. Moses currently
works at Cancer Australia in cancer research programs.
NOT JUST A ‘HEAD COLD’
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this CPD activity,
pharmacists should be able to:
• Describe the characteristic features that
differentiate the common cold from flu.
• List virus groups causing common colds
and flu.
• Describe zoonotic viruses that can move
from animals to humans.
2016 Competency Standards:
1.3, 1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.6.
Accreditation number:
A2005RP3. (exp: 30/04/2022).
Introduction
Every day, people head to the
pharmacy for advice about minor
ailments. In these circumstances the
pharmacist may encounter requests for
advice about symptoms, purchase of a
named medicine, or for health advice.
Pharmacists are encountering requests
related to common and other exotic
infections more often.
Acute upper respiratory tract infections
(URTIs) are among the most common
illnesses in the community, with adults
and schoolchildren experiencing two
to five and seven to 10 episodes of
common cold a year, respectively.1
The symptoms are so common that
self-diagnosis of URTI or influenza
(flu) is not unusual among the
public.2 Interestingly, more than 200
serologically different variants of
viruses are responsible for human
URTIs.3 For pharmacists who may
encounter requests related to these
common ailments, an understanding
of the pathophysiology of symptoms
of URTIs is critical, as management and
treatments for URTIs focus on symptom
scores as the main parameter of efficacy.
Is it a cold, flu or something else?
In clinical terms, there is no standard
definition for a common cold.
However, reports indicate that common
cold is a spontaneously remitting
infection of the upper respiratory tract,
characterised by runny nose, nasal
congestion, sneezing, and sometimes
cough, malaise, sore throat and fever
(usually <37.8C). A temperature of
37.8C or higher for three to four days
is typically associated with flu and other
respiratory diseases.4 Flu is a clinical
syndrome caused by the influenza virus.
The clinical presentation of URTI is
variable, being partly influenced by the
nature of the infecting virus, but largely
modulated by the host’s biological
factors, including age, physiological
state and immunological experience.5
Regardless of these factors, URTIs may
occur acutely without symptoms, lead
to a fatal outcome, or most commonly
will be associated with an acute, self
limiting illness, localised in the upper
respiratory tract.
The terms ‘common cold’ and ‘flu’
are conditions of similar symptoms
caused by viral infections of the upper
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