TAMIFLU - INFORMATION
What is influenza and how does
it compare to common cold?
What are the causes of influenza?
How serious is influenza?
How can I catch influenza?
Can influenza be prevented?
What are the symptoms of influenza?
How long before I get ill after being
infected?
How long does a bout of influenza last?
If I do get influenza, what can I do
about it?
When should I go to the doctor?
Can influenza reoccur?
When do influenza outbreaks occur?
What is avian bird flu?
What is influenza and how does it compare
to common cold?
We often hear people say, I have got the flu, meaning
they are afflicted by influenza. But actually, they
might only have the common cold. While a common cold
does make you feel pretty bad and it carries almost
the same symptoms as the flu, it is not the same thing.
Unlike common cold, influenza may cause severe illness
and even life-threatening complications in many people.
Influenza infection is characteristic in its swift
onset. People who are feeling completely well might
go on to become very sick within a few hours only.
Though influenzas basic reactions are heavy coughing
and sneezing, patients may also run a high fever,
chills and body aches, none of which are symptoms
of the regular cold. Moreover common colds generally
do not result in serious health problems.
Influenza
is in the real sense, the highly contagious viral
infection of the respiratory tract. The virus can
be spread to others by air through sneezes or coughs,
or it may be picked when people pick up objects or
come in direct contact with other people who have
been contaminated and pass it into their own body
when the hand rubs the eye or nose. Highly contagious
as it is, the flu may appear out of the blue after
1 to 3 days of incubation.
What are the causes of influenza?
While influenza viruses may be of several kinds, two
known types, type A & type B are known to be the
cause for major sickness in humans. Both viruses have
a number of strains that cause illness in varying
levels of severity. At the same time, strains of the
A family are known to be more virulent than those
of the B family. This has been further proven by the
fact that there have been 9 major outbreaks of influenza
type A in the UK in the 90s as compared to only 4
reported outbreaks of influenza B.
How serious is influenza?
Influenza is normally a semi-serious illness for most
healthy children and adults and most people affected
get back to normal lives within the week. But yes,
influenza could become a serious ailment for those
who are not healthy to start with. If the immune system
is down, then influenza can also prove fatal. Influenza
can also create a variety of complications in those
already in weakened state. Most of the time, the complications
are in the form of bacterial infections since the
bodys immune system is so weakened by influenza that
bacteria find it easy to attack. The most common and
yet the most serious complication is bacterial pneumonia.
There are also, high chances of the sinuses and inner
ears becoming inflamed and painful.
How can I catch influenza?
Influenza can be picked up from droplets of influenza
virus in the air that might have been released by
someone else with influenza while coughing or sneezing
or else by direct contact. Just 3 to 4 particles of
influenza inhaled are more than enough to give you
an infection. So be careful, you can contract influenza
just by standing next to someone with influenza in
the subway, at work, anywhere.
Once
it has entered your respiratory tract, the virus makes
its way into your body and starts attacking the protective
cells of the respiratory tract. And as with all other
infections, the easiest to infect are children, who
act as both victims and carriers. What this means
is that if a child in a family becomes infected, there
is more than 60% chance that there will be a second
influenza case in the family.
Can influenza be prevented?
Yes and no. Influenza can be prevented to a certain
extent and the best way to do so is to get vaccinated
every fall. Every vaccine acts on the principle of
injecting a tiny bit of inactive virus or some of
its components into your body. Since the virus is
inactive, it can neither infect your body cells nor
make you ill. At the same time, injection of the virus
allows your body to create antibodies so that when
live influenza viruses strike, your body is all ready
for it with its immunity shield. Since strains of
the flu virus are constantly changing, so a single
time vaccination turns out to be only partially successful.
Hence it helps to get vaccinated each year.
What are the symptoms of influenza?
Influenza carries symptoms that are similar to a lot
of other diseases including the common cold. Most
adults and adolescents find influenza turning up in
their bodies abruptly with symptoms appearing out
of the blue. Referred to as flu like symptoms, these
include
- High
fever and chills
- Splitting
headaches
- Extreme
tiredness combined with body and muscle aches
- Sore
throat and continuous coughing & sneezing
- Runny
or stuffy nose
- Anorexia
- Diarrhea
and vomiting also can occur but are more common
in children
The fever (38-40 Celcius) which peaks within 24 hours
of onset normally lasts for 1-5 days. Other physical
signs include the appearance of being unwell, hot
and moist skin, flushed face, bloodshot and burning
eyes and a clear nasal discharge. Febrile convulsions
are the initial sign in a number of children.
How long before I get ill after being infected?
The flu normally does not give any time or notice
for preparing and a victim of influenza usually becomes
acutely ill very fast. Incubation period can be as
short as a single day or as long as 7 days, but normally
lasts around 2 to 3 days. So if by chance you have
become infected by the influenza virus, it could be
up to 7 days before you notice the first symptoms.
And remember, you continue to spread the virus all
around you during this entire period.
How long does a bout of influenza last?
If the flu attack is without complications then a
healthy person would normally start feeling better
in a number of days. But the cough and malaise associated
with influenza can persist beyond 2 weeks. But if
some how some other complications like pneumonia were
to occur, then the seriousness of the disease and
the time required to come out of it would increase
considerably.
If I do get influenza, what should I do?
The first thing to do on feeling the effect of influenza
is to get plenty of rest combined with the intake
of large quantities of liquids. Avoid alcohol and
tobacco if you wish to get back to normal fast. Medication
to relieve the symptoms of influenza can also be taken
(but take care to avoid giving aspirin to children
or teenagers who show similar symptoms like fever).
Treatment
of colds based only on symptoms is aimed at relieving
only the most harassing symptoms of the illness and
there are several such medications available. At the
same time, most doctors prescribe antiviral drugs
that shorten the influenza symptom duration to around
1 to 2 days. But these drugs too are effective only
if taken within 48 hours of the appearance of flu
like symptoms.
At
the same time, you can take certain steps to ensure
that you dont spread the flu further:
Distance
yourself from others so that they dont pick up the
infection from you
Always cough or sneeze into a tissue and throw it
away after use
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially
after you cough or sneeze. If water is not available,
use an alcohol-based hand cleaner
Rest at home and take leave from work, school as well
as errands when you are sick. That way, you will not
pass on the flu to others
Germs often spread when you touch your eyes, nose
or mouth, so avoid such touching
When should I go to the doctor?
Once your symptoms start worrying you, get in touch
with your doctor. And if any of the following holds
true for you, get in touch with your physician at
the earliest:
- you
belong to the risk groups and believe or feel that
you have influenza
- you
have a cold that is more than seven days old
- you
have a constant fever that stays above 40 degrees
Celsius
-
your ears hurt
- you
have a headache that worsens on bending over
- you
throat feels badly sore and infected
- your
sputum is greenish in colour or bloody
Can influenza reoccur?
Yes, influenza can affect the same person on multiple
occasions on account of the fact that influenza causing
viruses might belong to either of the two influenza
virus families A or B. Moreover, both these families
have several different strains, like siblings in a
family.
The
viruses in themselves are also continuously changing.
Your body normally develops antibodies to the viral
strain that caused influenza but these antibodies
are not effective against new or changed strains.
So, if you have had influenza one year and a different
kind of viral strain appears the next year, you can
get influenza again. This capacity for variations
is the biggest reason behind influenzas success in
spreading every year.
When do influenza outbreaks occur?
Outbreaks of the flu take place almost every year,
most prominently in winter or early spring. On occasions,
there can be simultaneous outbreaks of two different
kinds of influenza. As a result, the risk of contracting
influenza every year remains very much alive. Some
year, the outbreak might be only of local proportions
but at times, it might spread on to become a national
epidemic.
What is avian bird flu?
Avian bird flu is an affliction spread by the avian
influenza viruses. These viruses occur naturally among
birds across the globe and while most wild birds carry
the viruses in their intestines, they rarely get sick
from them. But this does not make the flu any less
contagious among birds and it can prove fatal for
domesticated birds like chickens, ducks and turkey.
Normally
the avian bird flu viruses do not affect humans but
since 1997 (when the first case of avian bird flu
among humans appeared in Hong Kong), this kind of
flu has infected and killed several humans in the
South East Asian countries. While WHO does not recommend
avoiding travels to these countries, it does advice
staying away from live animal markets and poultry
farms. This is because the droppings of infected birds
generally carry large quantities of the virus.
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