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Typically, flu season peaks between late December and early March.
So, now is the time to learn about the flu and to practice behaviors
which strengthen your immune system. For healthy young adults and
children, influenza (flu) is usually a moderately severe illness. With
bed rest and proper self care, most people can be back on their feet
within a week. Flu is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It is
considered a respiratory disease, but its effects are felt throughout
the whole body.
Just because you’ve had the flu once doesn’t mean you can’t get it
again. The virus that causes influenza may belong to one of three
different flu virus families-A, B, or C. Influenza A and B are the major
families. Within each flu virus family are many different strains. When
you get the flu, your body responds by developing antibodies against the
particular family and strain of virus you contracted. The following
year, a new strain of the same family of virus you had appears, or a
strain from another family of flu virus. The antibodies you built up to
the former virus are now ineffective against this unfamiliar strain to
which you have been exposed. Thus, you could get the flu again.
What to Expect from the Flu "bug":
When flu strikes the lungs, the lining of the respiratory tract becomes
swollen and inflamed. Fortunately, the damage is usually not permanent
as the body repairs itself. During the height of the illness, fever,
chills weakness, loss of appetite and aching throughout the body occur.
The throat may become sore and dry, and there may be coughing. Nausea
and burning eyes can also be present. After the fever, which can quickly
mount to as high as 104° and subsides after two or three days, the
person with the flu is exhausted. The next few days of quiet and bed
rest are needed to fully recover.
Complications:
Flu can be a more complicated and even fatal illness for people who are
considered at “high risk” due to the presence of certain chronic
conditions or immune system weakness or damage. Complications of flu are
bacterial because the body is so weakened by the flu virus that bacteria
can invade the body. Bacterial pneumonia is the most common complication
of influenza. The sinuses and inner ears are also prone to painful
inflammation.
Although it is possible for anyone to suffer complications of the
flu, it is much more likely for people who have the following
conditions:
- Chronic lung disease such as asthma, chronic bronchitis,
bronchiectasis, or cystic fibrosis
- Autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Chrohn’s
disease, systemic lupus erythmatosis
- Heart disease
- Chronic kidney disease
- Diabetes or other chronic metabolic disorder
- Severe anemia
- Diseases, such as HIV or AIDS, or treatments which depress the
immune system
- Age 65 or over
- Living in a nursing home or chronic care facility
Precautionary Measures:
The viruses that cause influenza are easily spread when someone with the
virus sneezes, coughs, or even talks. Similar to cold viruses they are
also spread hand-to-hand. If you shake, touch or hold the hand of an
infected person (who may or may not appear to have symptoms) and then
touch your eyes or nose, you are likely to infect yourself with the flu
virus. These viruses are sturdy enough to live on hard, nonporous
surfaces such as doorknobs or telephones or other objects which a person
who has the flu may have touched. Since it is common for people with the
flu to have droplets of secretions on their hands, the best precaution
you can take to avoid the flu is to frequently wash your hands.
Other preventive measures which help to keep your immune system
strong to ward off flu and other illnesses include:
- Getting adequate sleep (most people need 6-8 hours)
- Eating regular nutritious meals
- Keeping alcohol consumption low
- Keeping a positive attitude and balancing work with leisure (or
at least taking short breaks from a heavy work or study schedule)
- Keeping from smoking or other substance abuse
Self-Care For the Flu:
It’s nice if someone else can tend to you and help care for you if you
have the flu. College students, however, often have to care for
themselves because the schedules of friends and roommates do not allow
for constant assistance.
Here’s what to do if you have the flu:
- Drink lots of liquids, particularly very warm liquids which
soothe the throat and loosen secretions such as hot tea or chicken
soup or broth
- Take ibuprofen or acetaminophen to ease aches and pains and
lower fever
- Gargle with saltwater to shrink inflamed membranes of the throat
- Don’t use antibiotics (especially don’t let other people give
you left over antibiotics from some illness they have had. Viruses
are not cured by antibiotics and taking them can only increase risk
of becoming resistant to their effects when you really need them for
a bacterial infection
- Use disposable tissues
If you don’t get better within a week, and especially if your fever
lasts more than a few days and/or you continue to have coughing with
phlegm or worsening ear pain, come to the FIT Health Services (free to
full-time FIT students) or to another health care provider of your
choice without delay.
For more information, see the
Center for
Disease Control's official Flu Facts web site.
Note: Full-Time FIT Students who have the FIT Student Injury and
Sickness Insurance plan have the option of speaking with a personal
health advisor if they have questions. (Refer to your insurance brochure
for the telephone number to call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.) |
