Description

The flu, is an infection of the nose, throat and lungs, which are part of the respiratory system. The flu is caused by a virus. Influenza viruses are different from the "stomach flu" viruses that cause diarrhea and vomiting.

Most people with the flu get better on their own. But sometimes, influenza and its complications can be deadly. To help protect against the seasonal flu, can receive an annual flu vaccine. Although the vaccine is not 100% effective, it reduces the chances of having serious complications from the flu. This is especially true for individuals who are at high risk of complications from the flu.

Aside from the vaccine, you can take other steps to help prevent infection with the flu. You can clean and disinfect the surfaces, washing hands, and keep the air around it in motion.

Symptoms

The viruses that cause the flu spreads at high levels during certain times of the year in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. These are the so-called flu seasons. In North America, the flu season usually runs between October and May.

The symptoms of the flu such as sore throat and runny or stuffy nose are common. You can also get these symptoms with other diseases such as a cold. But colds usually start gradually, and the flu tends to come on quickly, within two or three days after you come in contact with the virus. And despite the cold it can be miserable, you usually feel much worse with the flu.

Another one of the symptoms of the flu include:

  • Fever.
  • For cough.
  • The pain of a headache.
  • Muscle aches.
  • Feeling very tired.
  • Sweating and chills.

In children, these symptoms may appear in a more general way as being restless or irritable. Children are also more likely than adults to have ear pain, feeling sick to the stomach, you vomit or have diarrhea with the flu.

In some cases, people have pain in the eyes, watery eyes, or find that the light hurts his eyes.

When to see a doctor

The majority of people who get the flu can manage at home and often do not need to see a health professional.

If you have flu symptoms and are at risk of complications, see your healthcare provider immediately. From antiviral medication within two days after your symptoms may shorten the duration of your illness and help prevent serious problems.

If you have emergency symptoms of the flu, get immediate medical attention. For adults, the emergency symptoms may include:

  • Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
  • Chest pain or pressure.
  • Course of dizziness.
  • Difficulty waking up or confusion.
  • The dehydration.
  • Seizures.
  • The worsening of existing medical conditions.
  • Severe weakness or muscle pain.

Emergency symptoms in children include all of the symptoms that are observed in adults, as well as:

  • Rapid breathing or ribs, throw in with each breath.
  • Grey or blue, lips, or nails.
  • Absence of tears when crying and a dry mouth, along with not needing to urinate.
  • The symptoms, such as fever or cough that improve but then return or worsen.

Causes

The flu is caused by a virus. These viruses travel through the air in droplets when someone with the infection coughs, sneezes, or speaks. You can inhale the droplets directly. Or you can pick up the virus from touching an object, such as a computer keyboard, and then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth.

It is possible to spread the virus to others from one day before symptoms appear to about 5 to 7 days after onset. This is called being contagious. Children and people with weakened immune systems may be contagious for a little more time.

Flu viruses are constantly changing, with new strains appearing often.

A person of the first influenza infection provides some long-term protection against similar strains of the flu. But vaccines that are offered each year are made to match with the flu virus strains that are more likely to spread of the season. The protection of these vaccines offer lasts for months in the majority of the people.

Risk factors

There are a number of factors that may increase the risk of getting a virus from the flu or complications from an influenza infection.

Older and younger age

Seasonal flu tends to have worse outcomes in young children, especially those 2 years of age and younger. Adults older than 65 years of age also tend to have worse outcomes.

The conditions of life

The people who live in facilities with many other residents, such as nursing homes, are more likely to catch the flu.

Weakened immune system

An immune system that does not rapidly clear the virus of the flu can increase the risk of getting the flu or getting complications from the flu. People can have a weakened immune system response from the birth, by disease or by the treatment of the disease or of the medicine.

Chronic diseases

Chronic conditions can increase the risk of complications from the flu. Examples include asthma and other lung diseases, diabetes, heart disease, nervous system disease, history of stroke, metabolic disorders, problems with the respiratory tract, and kidney, liver or blood.

Race or ethnic origin

In the united States, the people who are Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Blacks or Latinos, may have a greater risk of needing medical care at the hospital of the flu.

Aspirin therapy

The young long-term aspirin therapy are at risk of developing Reye's syndrome if they are infected with the influenza virus.

Pregnancy

Pregnant people are more likely to develop complications from the flu, especially in the second and third quarter.

Obesity

People with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more have a higher risk of complications from the flu.

Complications

If you are young and healthy, the flu is not typically fatal. Even though you may feel bad while the flu usually goes away in a week or two without lasting effects.

But people at high risk of developing other health problems after the flu, called complications.

Getting another infection may be a complication of the flu. That includes diseases such as croup, and sinusitis or ear infections. Lung infections are another complication. The infection of the heart muscle or lining of the heart may occur after getting the flu. And, in some cases, people can have the infection of the central nervous system.

Other complications may include:

  • Acute respiratory distress syndrome.
  • The muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis, or swelling of the muscle, called myositis.
  • The toxic shock syndrome.
  • Worsening of a chronic disease, such as asthma or kidney disease.

Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends annual influenza vaccination for persons 6 months of age and older who do not have a medical reason to avoid the vaccine.

The flu vaccine reduces:

  • The risk of getting the flu. If the vaccine is given later in the pregnancy, the flu vaccine helps to protect the newborn from the flu.
  • The risk of having severe illness from the flu and the need to stay in the hospital due to the flu.
  • The risk of dying of the flu.

The 2024-2025 seasonal influenza vaccine each provide protection against the three influenza viruses that the researchers hope to be the most common in this season of flu.

The vaccine is available as a shot, a jet injector and nasal spray.

For older children and adults, the flu vaccine is usually given into a muscle in the arm. Small children can get the flu vaccine in a muscle of the thigh.

If you are an adult younger than 65, you can choose to get your shot with a jet injector. Instead of a needle, this device uses a high-pressure, narrow stream of fluid to go through the skin.

The nasal spray is approved for people between the ages of 2 and 49 years of age. It is not recommended for some groups, such as:

  • People who have had a severe allergic reaction to the flu vaccine in the past.
  • Pregnant people.
  • The young people who take aspirin or salicylate-containing medicine.
  • People with weakened immune systems and people that take care or close contacts of people with weakened immune systems.
  • Children between the ages of 2 and 4 years of age with a diagnosis of asthma or wheeze in the last 12 months.
  • People who recently took the antiviral medication for the flu.
  • People with a cerebrospinal fluid leak, or the possibility of a leak, such as a cochlear implant.

Check with your health care team to see if you need to be cautious about obtaining a nasal spray flu vaccine. If you can take the nasal spray flu vaccine, you may be able to do it, or give it to a child who is eligible, without seeing a health care professional.

There are also vaccines offer so-called high-dose or adjuvanted influenza vaccines. These vaccines may help some people avoid the need for care in the hospital because of the flu. People over 65 years of age can obtain from these vaccines. These vaccines are recommended for people of 18 years of age and older who have a solid organ transplant and take drugs to suppress their immune response.

If you have an egg allergy, you can still get a flu vaccine.

The first time that children between 6 months and 8 years old to receive the vaccine against the flu, which may need two doses given at least four weeks apart. After that, they can receive a single annual dose of the vaccine against the flu. Check with your child's health care professional.

Also, check with your health care team before receiving a flu vaccine if you had a serious reaction to a vaccine against the flu. People who have had Guillain-Barré syndrome also should consult with a healthcare professional before receiving the vaccine against the flu. And if you feel bad, when you're going to get the flu vaccine, talk with your health care team to see if you should delay the administration of the vaccine.

The control of the spread of the infection

The influenza vaccine is not 100% effective. Therefore it is important to take measures to reduce the spread of infection, including:

  • Wash your hands. Wash your hands often and thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Make sure that the friends and family that you're regularly, especially children, we know the importance of washing hands.
  • Avoid touching your face. Keep hands away from eyes, mouth and nose to help keep germs away from those places.
  • Cover your cough or sneeze. Cough or sneeze into a tissue or with your elbow. Then wash your hands.
  • Clean the surfaces. Regularly clean frequently touched surfaces to prevent the spread of infection from touching a surface with the virus on it and then your face.
  • To avoid the crowds. The flu spreads easily wherever people gather in child care centers, schools, office buildings, auditoriums and public transportation. By avoiding crowds during peak flu season, you reduce the chances of infection.

Also avoid anyone who is sick.

If you are sick, stay home until you are feeling better and I have not had a fever for a full 24 hours, and you have not taken any medicine for fever during that time. If the fever returns, or you begin to feel worse, stay apart from others until your symptoms improve and you are fever-free without medication for 24 hours. Doing so will reduce the chance of infecting others.

Diagnosis

To diagnose the flu, also called influenza, your healthcare provider will perform a physical examination, is seen to the symptoms of the flu and, possibly, to the orders of a blood test that detects influenza viruses.

The viruses that cause the flu spreads at high levels during certain times of the year in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. These are the so-called flu seasons. During times when influenza is widespread, you may not need a flu test.

But a flu test can be suggested to help guide your care, or to know if you could spread the virus to others. A flu test can be performed by a pharmacy, your health care professional's office or in the hospital. For people 2 years of age and older, a test that you can take at home may be available. If you make use of an at-home test, let your healthcare provider know the results. You may need to confirm the results, positive or negative, with a proof of your health care team.

Types of tests for the flu may have include:

  • The molecular tests. These tests can detect the genetic material of the influenza virus. Reaction tests polymerase chain shortened to PCR testing, are molecular tests. You may also hear this type of test called NAAT test, short for the nucleic acid amplification test.
  • The antigen test. These tests can detect viral proteins, called antigens. Rapid influenza diagnostic tests are an example of antigen tests.

It is possible to have a test to diagnose the flu and other respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019. You can have both COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.

Treatment

If you have a severe infection or who are at high risk of complications of influenza infection, your healthcare provider may prescribe an antiviral medicine to treat the flu. These medications may include oseltamivir (Tamiflu), baloxavir (Xofluza) and zanamivir (Relenza).

Taking oseltamivir and baloxavir by the mouth. You inhaled zanamivir using a device similar to an asthma inhaler. Zanamivir should not be used by people with certain chronic respiratory problems such as asthma and lung disease.

The people who are in the hospital can be prescribed peramivir (Rapivab), which is given into a vein.

These medications can shorten your illness by a day or so, and help prevent serious complications.

Antiviral medications can cause side effects. The side effects are often mentioned in the recipe information. In general, antiviral medications side effects may include respiratory symptoms, nausea, vomiting or loose stool is called diarrhea.

Lifestyle and home remedies

If you have the flu, these measures may help to relieve the symptoms:

  • Drink plenty of fluids. Choose water, juice and warm soups to help keep the fluids in your body.
  • Rest. Get more sleep to help your immune system fight infections. You may need to change your level of activity, depending on the symptoms.
  • Consider the possibility of pain relievers. The use of acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) for fever, headache or discomfort associated with influenza. Children and adolescents recovering from flu-like symptoms should not take aspirin due to the risk of Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal condition.

To help control the spread of flu in the community, stay home and keep sick children at home until the fever is gone without the use of medication, for 24 hours. Unless you are going to a medical appointment, to avoid being around other people until you feel better. If you need to leave your home to receive medical care, wear a face mask. Wash your hands often.

Symptoms and treatment of Influenza (flu)