Flu - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Influenza, commonly shortened to "flu," is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza A or B viruses. Flu appears most frequently in winter and early spring. The flu virus attacks the body by spreading through the upper and/or lower respiratory tract.

What causes colds and the flu?

There's no cure for a cold or the flu. To feel better you can treat your symptoms while your body fights off the virus.

Stay home and rest in bed, especially while you have a fever.

Stop smoking and avoid second-hand smoke, which can make cold symptoms worse.

What are the symptoms of flu or a flu-like illness?

Typical symptoms in adults and older children include: high temperature (fever), sweats, muscle aches, a dry cough, sore throat, sneezing, and headache. You may also feel sick. The flu illness caused by the influenza virus tends to be worse than illnesses caused by other viruses which cause a 'flu-like' illness. Even if you are young and fit, flu can make you ill enough to need to go to bed.

How Is the Flu Spread?

The flu virus spreads through the air when a person who has the virus sneezes, coughs, or speaks. The flu can even be passed on if a person touches an object that someone with the virus sneezed or coughed on. People carrying the virus can be contagious 1 day before to 5 days after their symptoms appear. So they can pass it on before they even know they're sick.

Treatment of flu

If you are usually fit and healthy, you can treat the symptoms of flu at home using remedies commonly available from pharmacies. Antibiotics are not prescribed for flu as they have no effect on viruses. However, occasionally it may be necessary to control complications, especially serious chest infections or pneumonia.

You should stay at home and in bed for as long as the acute symptoms persist which is usually for two or three days after the symptoms peak. You should drink plenty of fluids and to treat the symptoms as necessary. See the encyclopaedia entries on colds, sore throats and coughs for symptom relief.

Most people who get the flu recover completely in 1 to 2 weeks, but some people develop serious and possibly life-threatening complications. While your body is busy fighting off the flu, you may be less able to resist a second infection. Older people and people with chronic illnesses run the greatest risk of getting secondary infections, especially pneumonia. In an average year, the flu leads to about 20,000 deaths nationwide and many more hospitalizations.

Stay home. If you’re sick, stay home so you don’t spread the flu to others. You can spread the flu to others the day before you even appear sick—and you can continue to infect others for about a week after you first get sick.