a cold... now chest pain... whats going on?

I've had this cold for about 2 weeks (headache, sore throat, stuffed up nose, severe cough) and i've been taking antibiotics for it, and have gotten a bit better. You see i run cross country and have been running with the cold and yesterday i started to have this really sharp pain in my chest. It moved to my ribs and i dismissed it as a side stitch, but it hasnt gone away and is starting to concern me. Its grown to my whole left side and hurts constantly. I dont think that its anything really severe, i mean i'm only a fourteen year old, it cant be that bad, can it?

Does anyone have any idea what this may be?

[Enoch Choi, MD]

If antibiotics have helped your symptoms, this is bacterial, since antibiotics don't help viral illness.

If you have a severe cough, that often causes sharp chest pain in ribs when you cough and feels like a side stitch and can even be constant.

If it persists you should have it checked by a doctor

Dr. Enoch Choi, MD
Palo Alto, CA