Flu – symptoms, treatment, prevention, complications

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Influenza is an infectious disease caused by viruses that enter the body by droplets. There are three types of virus (A, B, C), but different mutations appear. Flu symptoms include high fever, chills, headaches and muscle aches, cough, and weakness.

Flu virus

Flu infection

Flu symptoms

1. general symptoms – fever, chills, muscle pain, headache (most often around the forehead and eyes), a feeling of breakdown and weakness, general malaise;
2. respiratory symptoms – sore throat, dry cough; sometimes also a stuffy nose and runny nose (usually mild).
3. age> 65. years or <5. years (especially <2 years);
4. pregnancy (especially the XNUMXnd and XNUMXrd trimester);
5. severe obesity;
6. some chronic diseases (regardless of age): lung (e.g. chronic bronchitis [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], asthma), heart (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure but not hypertension), kidney, liver, metabolic (including diabetes), hematopoietic system, immunodeficiency (including HIV infection, immunosuppressive therapy), nervous system diseases (impairing the function of the respiratory system or removing secretions from the respiratory tract)

Emergency flu symptoms

1. breathing problems (dyspnoea) – heavy breathing, rapid breathing, loud or hoarse breathing, feeling short of breath or tightness in the chest, pain in the lungs;
2. decreased consciousness, confusion, lethargy, delirium, loss of consciousness, trouble waking the patient, seizures;
3. severe muscle weakness, difficulty moving your arms and / or walking;
4. much less urine than usual (or no urine), dry mouth, no tears when crying, dizziness or fainting when you try to stand up, low blood pressure;
5. very high fever (over 40 degrees C);
6. bloody or blue spots on the skin; a bluish or purple color of the lips or skin around the mouth, on the tip of the nose or on the fingers;
7. haemoptysis or a pink discoloration of the saliva / sputum.
8. high fever and other severe flu symptoms last longer than 3 days;
9. the fever reappears after a few days’ break;
10. the patient’s condition deteriorated significantly.

Flu treatment

1. Bed rest, plenty of sleep, drinking plenty of fluids, isolating the sick person (especially from people at risk of influenza complications).
2. In case of higher fever or headache and / or muscle pain – antipyretic and analgesic drugs (e.g. paracetamol, ibuprofen). Do not use aspirin and other acetylsalicylic acid preparations in children and adolescents under 18 years of age (due to the risk of serious side effects). It is safe for pregnant women to take acetaminophen (but not aspirin, ibuprofen or similar medications).
3. If necessary: ​​antitussives (in mild cases, a spoonful of honey at bedtime), saline solutions or other drops in the nose (e.g. used in colds).
4. Commonly used drugs such as vitamin C and rutoside are ineffective. Homeopathic Medicines – Beneficial Unconfirmed Effects.

How can I prevent flu?

1. Influenza vaccination – the basic method of prevention.
2. Hand hygiene (frequent hand washing, up to 10 times a day), hygiene of cough and contact with infected people, frequent and thorough airing of rooms.
3. Wearing a face mask in close contact with a sick person or by a sick person in contact with other people.
4. Isolation of patients for 7 days from the onset of symptoms or – if they last longer – 24 hours after fever and acute respiratory symptoms have subsided. During this period, patients with uncomplicated flu should stay at home and limit their contacts with others to the necessary minimum. In patients with immunodeficiency, longer isolation is necessary.
5. It is not recommended to take prophylactic antiviral drugs (oseltamivir, zanamivir) after contact with a flu patient. However, antiviral treatment of people at risk is preferable as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms indicative of influenza.

Complications after the flu

1. pneumonia (caused by the flu virus or bacteria);
2. bacterial angina, otitis;
3. exacerbation of concomitant chronic disease, e.g., chronic bronchitis (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma, coronary artery disease or heart failure, diabetes mellitus, etc .;
4. death from influenza or its complications;
5. rarely meningitis and encephalitis, limb paralysis (myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome), myositis, heart inflammation;
6. in children – very rarely – Reye’s syndrome (severe damage to the liver and brain), usually associated with taking aspirin or other acetylsalicylic acid preparations during the flu.