Fast Facts About the Flu
Influenza, or the flu, is a virus that shares a variety of symptoms with other illnesses, included the common cold, strep throat, bronchitis and pneumonia. For this reason, it is important to see your doctor when you begin to have symptoms. Although the flu can be quite mild, or it can sometimes lead to death in the very young or in the elderly. Complications from the flu can also lead to ear and sinus infections, bacterial pneumonia or complicate pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and asthma. It is more often these complications that cause serious problems and death.
The flu is characterized by body aches, fever, sore throat, runny nose, post-nasal drip (which can cause coughing), and general lethargy. You may not get all the symptoms, and you may, of course, not feel terribly sick. But if you have the flu, you are contagious. In fact, influenza is contagious as early as 24 hours before you show any symptoms at all! It continues to be contagious up to five days after you show symptoms. So, if you have come into contact with someone who came down with the flu the day after you saw them, take preventative measures! The Centers for Disease Control estimate the flu strikes only about 200,000 people in the United States each year, and of those, only about 36,000 people a year die from it. However, that doesn’t mean you can ignore it and hope to not get it. There are a variety of things you can do to prevent the flu as well as things to do if you get it to avoid infecting others.
The easiest way to prevent the flu is to get the flu shot every fall. They are available in late October or November; sometimes it is offered for free or for a small fee. The vaccine is safe for children 6 months and older and will not cause the flu. If you do get sick after getting the vaccine, it is likely you were exposed before getting the shot. If you have an allergy to chicken eggs or have had a poor reaction to the vaccine, you should not get another shot but can try the nasal-spray. The nasal-spray vaccine is not safe for children under 5 or adults over 50. It is also not recommended for pregnant women.
Sometimes the vaccines available are not a good match for the strain of the virus circulating. The vaccines have a 70 – 90% prevention rate. Even if the wrong strain is predicted and you get sick, you will not get as sick as if you skipped the vaccine.
If you do become sick, it is important to know you can infect someone a full day before you know you show symptoms, and up to five days after becoming sick.
There are also antiviral drugs that are approved for preventing and treating the flu: amantadine, rimantadine, zanamivir and oseltamivir. In order for any of these to work you must take them within 48 hours of coming down with the flu or during the time of a flu epidemic in your community. Remember that you can have the flu and infect others up to a full day before you begin to show any symptoms at all, as well as up to five days after becoming sick. They are generally not given to the public, but reserved for health care workers and other first-impact personnel. You should absolutely not take these unless prescribed. Taking the antivirals when you do not have the flu can actually cause the flu virus to become immune to them.
If the vaccines or antivirals are not options you want to investigate, you can protect yourself in other ways. First, make sure you wash your hands as often as possible, or use a hand sanitizing gel and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth as these are the main entrance points for viruses getting into your body. At the first sign of illness, take Echinacea, making sure you have the right doses and pure Echinacea. Do not take this herbal supplement longer than 2 weeks, as it can actually end up having the opposite effect. When you are sick, stay home and avoid close contact with others when they are sick. Reducing the spread of the flu virus is a major key to knocking out the bug. Finally, make sure that you keep your stress levels low, get lots of rest and drink your fluids. Keeping your immune system healthy is the key to keeping influenza at bay.
Article Source: Health Guidance
The flu is characterized by body aches, fever, sore throat, runny nose, post-nasal drip (which can cause coughing), and general lethargy. You may not get all the symptoms, and you may, of course, not feel terribly sick. But if you have the flu, you are contagious. In fact, influenza is contagious as early as 24 hours before you show any symptoms at all! It continues to be contagious up to five days after you show symptoms. So, if you have come into contact with someone who came down with the flu the day after you saw them, take preventative measures! The Centers for Disease Control estimate the flu strikes only about 200,000 people in the United States each year, and of those, only about 36,000 people a year die from it. However, that doesn’t mean you can ignore it and hope to not get it. There are a variety of things you can do to prevent the flu as well as things to do if you get it to avoid infecting others.
The easiest way to prevent the flu is to get the flu shot every fall. They are available in late October or November; sometimes it is offered for free or for a small fee. The vaccine is safe for children 6 months and older and will not cause the flu. If you do get sick after getting the vaccine, it is likely you were exposed before getting the shot. If you have an allergy to chicken eggs or have had a poor reaction to the vaccine, you should not get another shot but can try the nasal-spray. The nasal-spray vaccine is not safe for children under 5 or adults over 50. It is also not recommended for pregnant women.
Sometimes the vaccines available are not a good match for the strain of the virus circulating. The vaccines have a 70 – 90% prevention rate. Even if the wrong strain is predicted and you get sick, you will not get as sick as if you skipped the vaccine.
If you do become sick, it is important to know you can infect someone a full day before you know you show symptoms, and up to five days after becoming sick.
There are also antiviral drugs that are approved for preventing and treating the flu: amantadine, rimantadine, zanamivir and oseltamivir. In order for any of these to work you must take them within 48 hours of coming down with the flu or during the time of a flu epidemic in your community. Remember that you can have the flu and infect others up to a full day before you begin to show any symptoms at all, as well as up to five days after becoming sick. They are generally not given to the public, but reserved for health care workers and other first-impact personnel. You should absolutely not take these unless prescribed. Taking the antivirals when you do not have the flu can actually cause the flu virus to become immune to them.
If the vaccines or antivirals are not options you want to investigate, you can protect yourself in other ways. First, make sure you wash your hands as often as possible, or use a hand sanitizing gel and avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth as these are the main entrance points for viruses getting into your body. At the first sign of illness, take Echinacea, making sure you have the right doses and pure Echinacea. Do not take this herbal supplement longer than 2 weeks, as it can actually end up having the opposite effect. When you are sick, stay home and avoid close contact with others when they are sick. Reducing the spread of the flu virus is a major key to knocking out the bug. Finally, make sure that you keep your stress levels low, get lots of rest and drink your fluids. Keeping your immune system healthy is the key to keeping influenza at bay.
Article Source: Health Guidance
No comments:
Post a Comment