Two native speakers were chatting about what kinds of
[風邪](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E9%82%AA) can be cured by 抗生物質
(antibiotics). I linked to [an English-language
study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000247.pub3/abstract;jsessionid=A18730863C7DE3225B412242BAA11F32.f03t04)
showing that [common cold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold) can not
be cured by 抗生物質. To which their answer was that 風邪 is different from common
cold:

> 日本語の風邪という言葉はだいぶ意味がひろいような気がする。  
>  風邪は病気の名前じゃなくて症状の総称みたいな感じだね。高熱、咳、鼻水、みたいな症状は全部風邪って言われる。

So, does 風邪 differ in scope from [the disease known as common
cold](https://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2016/MB_cgi?field=uid&term=D003139),
and if yes, how?
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definitions
Is 風邪 more than common cold?
Experts tend not to use the word 風邪 in serious documents in the first place,
because there is no strict definition which they can rely on. Even Wikipedia
says "医学的な（風邪の）定義は文献によって異なっている". In clinical practice, a wide variety of
diseases cause cold-like symptoms, so physicians tend to use a bit vaguer but
safer terms such as かぜ症候群 (症候群 =
[syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndrome)), 急性上気道炎 or 普通感冒.

According to [The Japanese Respiratory
Society](http://www.jrs.or.jp/modules/citizen/index.php?content_id=2), most
(but not all) かぜ症候群 cases are _viral_ , of course, and thus antibiotics are
not effective. But they say some of them are actually _bacterial_ , although
antibiotics are still generally unnecessary anyway (unless complicated with
secondary infections and/or other diseases). Many Japanese articles (like
[this
one](http://mainichi.jp/premier/health/articles/20151118/med/00m/010/002000c))
acknowledge the existence of 細菌性の風邪 ("bacterial 風邪"). On the other hand, many
English sources (incl. Wikipedia, Mayo Clinic and WebMD) seem to say "common
cold" is strictly viral, so Japanese 風邪 or かぜ症候群 may have a broader sense than
"common cold".

That said, antibiotics are not necessary regardless of the type of
microorganisms, so I agree with your attitude towards 風邪 :-) You can find tons
of Japanese articles saying how improperly some Japanese people demand the
prescription of antibiotics once they feel slightly sick.
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answer