| So you've got the flu. Now what?
U-M experts offer influenza information for adults and children
Fever, body aches, sore throat, headache. You’ve gone and caught the flu. Now, what can you do about it?
Most cases of the flu can be simply handled by waiting out the infection and taking these simple steps:
• Rest
• Drink plenty of liquids
• Avoid using alcohol and tobacco
• Take medication to relieve the symptoms of flu (for example, Tylenol for fever and body aches. DO NOT give aspirin to children with flu!)
In some cases, however, the flu may progress to something more serious. According to Cary Engleberg, M.D., Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at U-M, some children and adults face a higher risk that their cases of the flu will progress to a more serious infection, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. In the winter, doctors often see elderly people in the emergency room who put off an office visit for flu, hoping to treat themselves and avoid an unnecessary expense.
However, for the elderly and anyone who is especially vulnerable to infection, a doctor’s office visit should be considered the first line of defense against the complications of flu, which can become serious or even life-threatening. If vulnerable patients are diagnosed within the first 48 hours of their illness, the doctor can prescribe antiviral medicines that can make flu symptoms less severe and shorten the illness.
It’s impossible to be certain that you have the flu based on symptoms alone, but the probability is very high if you have the classic combination of symptoms and the influenza virus is known to be circulating in your community. In some cases, doctors can perform a test to see if you have the flu during the first few days of your illness. More importantly, they can rule out other types of infection that require different kinds of treatment, such as strep throat and sinusitis.
If you have flu symptoms, you should call your doctor (or your child’s doctor) if you (or your child) are in one of these high-risk groups:
• people over the age of 65.
• sufferers from heart disease, asthma, chronic bronchitis, kidney disease, or diabetes.
• those with impaired immune systems (for example, because they are taking steroids for another medical problem).
• 6- to 23 month-old children with flu symptoms.
Also see your doctor if you experience increasingly severe symptoms, have a painful cough, or cough up large amounts of phlegm. These signs may suggest pneumonia or bronchitis.
To prevent the spread of the flu:
If you suspect you’ve got the flu, take care of yourself, but also take care that you don’t expose others. People are exposed to the flu when someone who has the flu coughs or sneezes, or leaves the virus on things they handle. Adults may be contagious from one day prior to becoming sick and for three to seven days after they first develop symptoms. Some children may be contagious for longer than a week.
According to Dr. Engleberg, there are simple steps you can take to minimize the risk to others in your household or workplace. The best one: frequent hand washing. The friction of rubbing soapy hands together under running water is highly effective if you scrub for at least 15 seconds and scrub under and around nails and between fingers. Cover your mouth when you cough, and place used tissues in a waste receptacle so no one else will handle them. |
