Flu

A common viral infection that can be deadly, especially in high-risk groups.

The flu attacks the lungs, nose and throat. Young children, older adults, pregnant
women and people with chronic disease or weak immune systems are at high risk.

Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, congestion, runny nose, headaches
and fatigue.

Flu is primarily treated with rest and fluid intake to allow the body to fight the infection
on its own. Paracetamol may help cure the symptoms but NSAIDs should be avoided.
An annual vaccine can help prevent the flu and limit its complications.

Cold and Flu Overview

The common cold, including chest cold and head cold, and seasonal flu are caused by
viruses. Use over-the-counter cold medications to relieve symptoms including sore throat,
runny nose, congestion, and cough. Flu symptoms are similar, but include fever, headache
and muscle soreness. See a doctor who may prescribe antiviral medications Relenza or
Tamiflu.

Flu or Cold Symptoms?

When you wake up sneezing, coughing, and have that achy, feverish, can't move a muscle
feeling, how do you know whether you have cold symptoms or the flu?

It's important to know the difference between flu and cold symptoms. A cold is a milder

respiratory illness than the flu. While cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few
days, flu symptoms can make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks. The flu can also
result in serious health problems such as pneumonia and hospitalizations.

What is flu (influenza)?

Influenza, commonly called "the flu," is an illness caused by RNA viruses

(Orthomyxoviridae family) that infect the respiratory tract of many animals, birds, and
humans. In most people, the infection results in the person getting
a fever, cough, headache, and malaise (tired, no energy); some people also may develop
a sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The majority of individuals has flu
symptoms for about 1-2 weeks and then recovers with no problems. However,
compared with most other viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold,
influenza (flu) infection can cause a more severe illness with a mortality rate (death rate)
of about 0.1% of people infected with the virus.
The above is the usual situation for the yearly occurring "conventional" or "seasonal" flu
strains. However, there are situations in which some flu outbreaks are severe. These
severe outbreaks occur when a portion of the human population is exposed to a flu
strain against which the population has little or no immunity because the virus has
become altered in a significant way. These outbreaks are usually termed epidemics.
Unusually severe worldwide outbreaks (pandemics) have occurred several times in the
last hundred years since influenza virus was identified in 1933. By an examination of
preserved tissue, the worst influenza pandemic (also termed the Spanish flu or Spanish
influenza) occurred in 1918 when the virus caused between 40-100 million deaths
worldwide, with a mortality rate estimated to range from 2%-20%.

In April 2009, a new influenza strain against which the world population has little or no
immunity was isolated from humans in Mexico. It quickly spread throughout the world
so fast that the WHO declared this new flu strain (first termed novel H1N1 influenza A
swine flu, often later shortened to H1N1 or swine flu) as the cause of a pandemic on
June 11, 2009. This was the first declared flu pandemic in 41 years. Fortunately, there
was a worldwide response that included vaccine production, good hygiene practices
(especially hand washing), and the virus (H1N1) caused far less morbidity and mortality
than was expected and predicted. The WHO declared the pandemic's end on Aug. 10,
2010, because it no longer fit into the WHO's criteria for a pandemic.

Researchers identified a new influenza-related viral strain, H3N2, in 2011, but this strain
has caused only about 330 infections with one death in the U.S. Since 2003, researchers
identified another strain, H5N1, a bird flu virus, that caused about 650 human infections.
This virus has not been detected in the U.S. and easily spreads among people in contrast
to other flu strains. Unfortunately, people infected with H5N1 have a high death rate
(about 60% of infected people die). Currently, H5N1 does not readily transfer from
person to person like other flu viruses.