Influenza Virus - Know More About It

Hello,

I am Hemalata Arora. I am a consultant and internal medicine and I am also a board certified internal medicine physician from the United States. Today I would like to speak to you about the common influenza virus sometimes it is confusing and sometimes it can be dangerous, so let us understand what is the flu all about? The flu can spread from person to person via contact or droplet when they touch each other or sometimes when we they are coughing on others, infected person is coughing on other people, it can spread from person to person.

Now what is the flu caused by? It is caused by the influenza virus which comes in 3 to 4 type A, B, C and D. Most commonly the flu caused by type A and sometimes type B. Most of the large virus pandemics that we have heard of the flu, swine flu pandemic, asian flu pandemic are usually caused by type A virus.

Then how do we distinguish between a common cold and flu? Most of the flu symptoms are high fever, chills, body aches, very severe body aches, weakness and fatigue along with throat pain, sore throat with cough which is usually not productive, the nose is slightly stuffy but not usually very running, eyes can be a bit congested but usually not very watery. Most of the symptoms are usually because of the fever, very bad body ache and very severe fatigue. In the common cold however these symptoms are much more muted then running of the nose and watering of the eyes, sneezing, all of that is much more and the body ache, fatigue as much as much less, fever usually occurs but lesser in degree, so this is the difference between common cold and flu.

Now when should we see the doctor when we think we may have the flu, now there are certain high risk groups such as small children i.e. under the age of 5 and specially under the age of 2, anybody who is over the age of 65 i.e. elderly people, pregnant women and anybody who has any chronic medical condition like lung disease, heart failure, kidney or liver disease, diabetes any of these people if they contract which they think might be the flu should see a doctor.

What are the emergency signs in which other adults also should see a doctor? If you have these symptoms and also have been experiencing chest pain, breathlessness, severe recurrent vomiting or if the flu symptoms somehow get better for a couple of days then seem to get worse, which may suggest the bacterial pneumonia, there's another reasons call the emergency warning signs for which you must immediately seek medical care.

What other ways to treat flu infection? The ways to treat flu infection is primarily, a lot of rest, fluids at least 3 to 4 litre per adult per day and some paracetamol to be able to reduce the fever and any symptomatic medication to reduce the throat pain, it will be best to avoid any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like brufen and other medications, so that the body is not negatively affected, a lot of rest and fluids can be a way to treat this infection.

What are the complications if you don't treat this infections or if you have emergency warning signs and don't pay heed to them? Complications can be pneumonia, sinus infections, ear infections and sometimes when it gets pretty bad especially in the elderly and debilitated you can have acute respiratory distress syndrome which can be respiratory failure.

Now what are the ways of treating medically? There are some antivirals which are available for treating the flu virus, now these antivirals are usually used again in these high risk groups mostly, also within the first 48 hours only antivirals are effective, after 48 hours of the symptoms onset there's no point in taking these antivirals unless there is any complication that has arisen. This should always be under the prescription of a doctor.

What are the various preventing flu? The best way of preventing the flu is to avoid contact, the best ways to clean your hand all the time, wash your hands, thorough hand washing for at least 20 seconds with soap and water so that any contact that you may have had in the day before you touch your face or eat your food should be removed and cover your cough, a lot of times people are coughing in your midst and you are not able to control that, the best way is for all people who have any kind of cough is to be able to cover the cough, even you must cover it with the tissue in front of your face like this or if tissue or napkin is not available you must use the crook of your elbow that is also another very effective way of covering the cough.

Another thing is to stay at home, all sick people must avoid public contact and stay at home for the entire duration of the illness so as to prevent spreading germs, There are also other medical ways to prevent advent of flu such a thing is called chemoprophylaxis, if you or your closed one has suffered the flu and there are people in that person's contact who may have debilitating conditions, chronic illnesses and would suffer badly from the they can take antivirals preemptively this is called chemoprophylaxis, again needs to be done with the prescription of a doctor.

What are the vaccines that can be used to prevent the flu virus? There are certain flu vaccines usually these vaccines are made every year by the pharmaceutical companies under the direction of WHO, so usually the vaccines last, immunity lasts about 8 to 12 months and must be taken every year, it is highly recommended again for the high risk groups, small children, elderly, pregnant women and people with debilitating conditions like liver and Kidney disease, respiratory conditions like asthma, heart failure and other immunocompromised conditions.

The best way to deal with the flu is to prevent it. Prevention is by keeping yourself clean, covering your cough and avoiding contact with people if anyone has the illness. I hope this was a useful information on the flu virus and its prevention, stay healthy.

Thank You.