respiratory distress vs respiraotry failure

I don't know if there is an official definition...but I define it as distress- having a problem respiratory wise vrs failure- measurably getting worse with time.

You can be in distress with a cough/cold, but stable and not be getting worse. Resp failure that is allowed to continue will eventually lead to death and is a more serious condition.

Respiratory distress can be further broken down to mild, moderate, or severe respiratory distress. With mild resp distress, you may see minimal SOB, cough, slight wheezes, upper airway congestion. Moderate would involve more obvious SOB, tachypnea, abnormal breath sounds, use of accessory muscles, or pursed lip breathing. Severe resp distress would be obviously labored resps, severe tachypnea, poor color, fatigue/weakness from effort of breathing, audible wheezing/rales/rhonchi--needs immediate intervention or will progress to respiratory failure. Respiratory failure is when pt becomes apneic, requires mechanical ventilation, or is refractory to all attempted medical treatments to improve breathing. (This is just my own way of classifying, not from a textbook)