emperorko: The symptoms are not the specific effects of the virus, the symptoms are the feelings caused by your body’s physical defenses. There may be a thousand different viruses out there that could be attacking you at any given time, but your immune system only really knows a dozen defense tactics. When a new virus comes in, the body tries what it knows…
Can we cook this one off? (Fever)
Does it go away if we secrete fluids to flush it out? (Mucous)
Do we need to rush more blood cells to the infected area? (Inflammation)
It’s getting into the airways, let’s try to force it out. (Coughing)
The immune response itself causes the bulk of the symptoms, not the virus.