INFLUENZA

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 35 to 50 million Americans come down with the flu during each flu season, which typically lasts from November to March. Children are two to three times more likely than adults to get sick with the flu, and children frequently spread the virus to others. Although most people recover from the illness, CDC estimates that in the United States more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and more than 20,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year.

What is Influenza?

Influenza, or the flu, is a respiratory infection caused by a variety of flu viruses. The most familiar aspect of the flu is the way it can "knock you off your feet" as it sweeps through entire communities.

The flu differs in several ways from the common cold, a respiratory infection also caused by viruses. For example, people with colds rarely get fevers or headaches or suffer from the extreme exhaustion that flu viruses cause.

How is the Flu Transmitted?

You can get the flu if someone around you who has the flu coughs or sneezes. You can get the flu simply by touching a surface like a telephone or door knob that has been contaminated by a touch from someone who has the flu. The viruses can pass through the air and can enter your body through your nose or mouth. If you've touched a contaminated surface, they can pass from your hand to your nose or mouth.

What are Flu Symptoms?

If you get infected by the flu virus, you will usually feel symptoms one to four days later. You can spread the flu to others before your symptoms start and for another three to four days after your symptoms appear.

The symptoms start very quickly and include the following:

How Does a Doctor Diagnose the Flu?

Usually, doctors or other health care workers diagnose the flu on the basis of whether flu is epidemic in the community and whether the patient's complaints fit the current pattern of symptoms. Doctors rarely use laboratory tests to identify the virus during an epidemic. Health officials, however, monitor certain US health clinics and do laboratory tests to determine which type of flu virus is responsible for the epidemic.

How Can I Keep from Getting the Flu?

The main way to keep from getting the flu is to get a yearly flu vaccine. You can get the vaccine at your doctor's office or a local clinic, and in many communities at workplaces, supermarkets, and drugstores. You must get the vaccine every year because it changes.

Your immune system takes time to respond to the flu vaccine. Therefore, you should get vaccinated six to eight weeks before flu season begins to prevent getting infected or reduce the severity of flu if you do get it. The vaccine itself cannot cause the flu, but you could become exposed to the virus by someone else and get infected soon after you are vaccinated.

Although the flu vaccine is the best way to prevent getting the flu, three antiviral medicines also are available by prescription that will help prevent flu infection:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tamiflu® for use in adults and adolescents 13 years and older. Rimantadine and amantadine have been approved for use by adults and children who are 1 year of age and older.

What is the Treatment for the Flu?

Many people treat their flu infections by simply:

• Resting in bed
  
• Drinking plenty of fluids
  
• Taking over-the-counter medicine such as aspirin or acetaminophen (Tylenol®, for example)
  
• You should not give aspirin to children and adolescents who have the flu.
• You should not take antibiotics to treat the flu because they do not work on viruses. Antibiotics only work against some infections caused by bacteria.

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