Symptoms of the Flu

What are the Symptoms of the Flu?

Symptoms of the flu can be relatively mild to incredibly severe.  Influenza is an illness of the muscles and respiratory system that is caused by a virus.  Although there is a vaccine that is available to help with flu prevention, its effectiveness does vary according to the match between the strains that are used in preparation of the vaccine and those that are actually in circulation that particular year.

Mild cases can appear to be mistaken for a common cold except symptoms are traditionally more severe.  Additionally, symptoms of the flu tend to occur quite suddenly with the presence of a fever being the first noticed sign.

Symptoms

Typical clinical symptoms include:

  • High fever usually between 100 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit with children seeing the most elevated levels.
  • Headache that can be mild to severe.
  • Fatigue that can often be quite extreme.
  • Muscle aches of the entire body.
  • Respiratory symptoms such as sore throat, cough and stuffy or runny nose.

While diarrhea, vomiting and nausea can accompany an influenza infection primarily in children, they are not actually very common in adults.  The stomach flu term is actually describing a gastrointestinal illness that is caused by other types of microorganisms.

Most individuals who experience symptoms of the flu typically recover completely within two weeks however some people can develop life-threatening complications such a pneumonia.  On average, there are several thousand people who die every year because of influenza.

Causes

It is also helpful to understand the causes of the virus.  Influenza viruses are continually changing, usually due to mutation.  Because of this constant variation, the virus is able to invade its host’s immune system much easier.  A host who becomes infected with a virus will develop antibodies against it.  As the virus changes even a small amount, the initial antibody will not combat the newer virus.  As a result, infection will often occur since the host doesn’t actually recognize the new virus as being a problem until after the infection has began to progress.

Type A viruses are basically divided according to variations in surface proteins.  These differences can occur in a large assortment of combinations since there are 9 N subtypes and 16 H subtypes.  When spread through direct contact or droplets in the air, the virus replicates in the host’s respiratory tract if their immune system doesn’t kill it right away.

Individuals who are immune compromised such as asthma patients, infants, pregnant women, cancer patients and those with pulmonary disease, the virus will often cause pneumonia as well as a great deal of stress to their system, making them much more vulnerable to bacterial infections, primarily bacterial pneumonia.  Both viral and bacterial pneumonia can cause death.

When to Seek Emergency Treatment

There are guidelines that have been recently published by the CDC of when you should seek emergency treatment and when it is safe to stay at home.  This has been created to avoid the rush of individuals bombarding emergency rooms unnecessarily so that trauma or cardiac patients can remain a top concern.  It is suggested that most individuals can simply stay home and the virus will work itself out without medication.

Children remain a concern however and those with the following symptoms should seek medical care immediately:

  • Difficulty or accelerated breathing.
  • Gray or bluish skin color.
  • Not drinking enough fluids which could cause dehydration.
  • Not interacting or waking up.
  • Extreme irritability.

Adults showing symptoms of the flu should  only visit the emergency room if they experience sudden dizziness, confusion, persistent vomiting, difficulty breathing or pain in either the chest or the abdomen.