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Montefiore in the News

October 28, 2019

Prevention is your best bet.

By Colleen de Bellefonds

You’re worried you might have come down with the flu. Now what?

First it helps to make sure whatever you’re experiencing actually is the flu. “A lot of people get flus and colds mixed up in terms of symptoms,” saysVanessa Raabe, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone in New York City who specializes in infectious diseases. Theflu season peaks between December and February but can begin a couple of months earlier and last a couple of months longer—right about the time that colds start making the rounds, too, she adds.

Why is it important to tell the difference? The flu can more dangerous than the cold and has different treatment options.

Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to protect yourself and others and speed up recovery. Here’s what you need to know, including symptoms that distinguish the flu from your everyday cold, how long it takes to feel better, and tips to lessen the severity and duration.

Flu symptoms

Sure, the flu and the cold are both viruses that circulate around the same time of the year. But a cold is confined to the upper airway while a flu is a systematic disease, says Anthony Fauci, M.D., the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In other words, your entire body takes a hit.

The following can help you tell the flu apart from the common cold:

  • Symptoms appear fast. If you have a cold, a day or two of sore throat progresses to congestion and a cough. The flu, on the other hand, knocks you out on the same day. “I got the flu several years ago. I was making rounds with my patients, and in less than an hour I had to go home and go to bed,” says Fauci.
  • You often have a fever, chills, and body aches. These symptoms are common with the flu, but not colds–and not everyone with the flu gets a fever. “Fever is a mechanism we’ve developed to make our bodies less hospitable to bacteria and viruses,” says Theresa Madaline, M.D., hospital epidemiologist and assistant professor of infectious diseases at Montefiore Health System in Bronx, NY.
  • You’re exhausted. You might be able to go about your usual routines and even exercise with a cold, says Fauci. With the flu, you’ll likely feel too fatigued and weak to hit the gym.
  • You have a headache. While the cold rarely causes headaches, they’re quite common with the flu, says Fauci.

Other common flu symptoms include a cough and a runny or stuffy nose. Sneezing and a sore throat are more common with colds than the flu, Fauci adds.

How long does it take to get over the flu?

Most people feel better in a few days. However, it can take up to a few weeks to get over fatigue, body aches, and incessant coughing.

“The flu causes a lot of irritation. Even when the acute infection is gone, it takes time for inflammation to go down,” says Raabe. Recovery time varies by person and may be impacted by whether you were previously vaccinated against the flu, adds Madaline.

Flu treatments

Skip the ER (unless you’re super sick or at risk of complications) to avoid spreading the virus to other people in the waiting room, Madaline advises. Call your doctor at the first signs of symptoms instead.

Medicines can't cure the flu, but you can lessen the severity and duration of the virus. Here's how:

Get an antiviral prescription

Antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Baloxavir prevent the flu virus from replicating and spreading in the body. They can shave off about a day’s worth of illness, reduce the risk of complications, and decrease your chance of passing the virus on to someone else, says Madaline. However, they only work if taken within 24 to 48 hours of your first symptoms.

In fact, unless you’re at higher risk of flu complications, your doctor likely won’t give an antiviral prescription if it’s too late. That’s why it’s so important to contact your doctor right away if you think you’re sick.

Take a pain reliever

Popping an acetaminophen or ibuprofen helps ease fever as well as muscle and body aches. Madaline recommends checking with your doctor first if you have liver or kidney disease to ensure you get the right dose. It's best to avoid aspirin if you have the flu as it can sometimes lead to a rare but serious condition known as Ryes’ syndrome that causes liver and brain swelling, says Raabe.

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Rest

That’s probably all you’ll want to do anyway—and for good reason, since it’s what your body needs to recover, says Fauci.

Drink lots of fluids

You may need double or triple the amount of water you usually drink, especially if you have a fever. “You’re losing fluid even though don’t realize it,” says Fauci.

Protect your family and friends

Skip work or school. The flu virus spreads easily via the surfaces you touch and air droplets up to a few feet from where you cough or sneeze, says Raabe.

At home, try to keep yourself quarantined as much as possible. Cover your mouth and nose with your elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze, wipe down surfaces with disinfectant cleaners, and wash your hands frequently.

Protect yourself and others from the flu virus

Getting a flu shot is the best way to avoid getting the flu. Every year, the vaccine is updated to protect against strains that experts expect to be the most common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends getting vaccinated at the start of the flu season, which begins as early as October.

Just know, that you can get the flu even if vaccinated. Some people don’t have as robust of an antibody response to vaccination, says Raabe. The flu also mutates quickly, meaning your body might not recognize the virus even if you’ve been vaccinated.

The good news is, even if you do get sick, vaccination decreases the severity of symptoms, the risk of complications, and the chances you’ll infect others, notes Madaline.

One common misperception is that the vaccine itself makes you sick. It doesn’t. “It’s designed to elicit an immune response, and part of that can be feeling under the weather for day or two,” says Raabe—but you won’t get nearly as sick as if you actually had the flu. Some people also mistake a cold virus they happened to catch around the same time for the flu, she adds.

When to call the doctor

See your doctor if your symptoms are getting worse, or if you feel better and get worse again, which could indicate you’re sick with a sinus or ear infection. “The flu causes inflammation, which makes it easier for bacterial infections to settle in and make you sick,” says Raabe.

Other symptoms that warrant a doctor’s visit include difficulty breathing; severe chest pain; weakness or dizziness to the point where you’re unable to get up; and feeling confused or unable to think clearly.

In very rare cases, the flu can affect the brain and heart or cause pneumonia. Some people are more at risk of complications,including:

  • Pregnant women
  • Children under the age of 5
  • Adults over the age of 65
  • People with chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, liver disease, or asthma

“The additional stress the flu places on the body tends to make those conditions worse,” says Raabe. Check in with your doctor early on if you’re among one of these groups that’s at higher risk for complications.

In some cases, the flu can even kill you: It was linked to 79,000 deaths last year, according to the CDC.

“People don’t appreciate how serious it can be,” says Fauci. “It’s rare that an otherwise healthy individual goes to the hospital and dies of respiratory failure, but we see it every year.”

Colleen de Bellefonds Colleen de Bellefonds is an American freelance journalist living in Paris, France, with her husband and dog, Mochi.