Characteristic	Epiglottitis	Croup
Age	Can occur in infants, older children, or adults	Six months to six years
Onset	Sudden	Gradual
Location	Supraglottic	Subglottic
Temperature	High fever	Low-grade fever
Dysphagia	Severe	Mild or absent
Dyspnea	Present	Present
Drooling	Present	Absent
Cough	Uncommon	Characteristic cough
Position	Sitting forward with mouth open	Comfortable in different positions
Radiography	Positive thumb sign*	Positive steeple sign