Getting the flu is a real pain
Is it the flu or a cold?
It’s a question that perplexes many who suffer the occasional runny nose, fever, body ache and chills.
The bottom line is you know you have the flu when you have intense fatigue, fever and aches, said Robert Welliver, M.D., chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children Hospital at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
“Flu comes on much more quickly. So, you’re OK Thursday, and Friday you’re bedridden because you’re so tired. Fevers are generally higher with flu. You can get a little fever with colds, but if
you’re 103 or 104 degrees then you’re probably dealing with flu,” he said.
“Maybe more important than that is the amount of fatigue that you get with flu. Fever, headache, muscle ache, fatigue you get those with any kind of virus, but you get it way more with flu than you do with others,” Welliver said.
The time of year may also help determine whether it’s a cold or flu virus.
“There are two big reasons for that,” said Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation immunologist Eliza Chakravarty, M.D. “For one, the flu is cyclic, meaning it is in different parts of the world at different times of the year. This is what gives us an advanced idea of what the strain is going to be when it reaches the U.S., which is how we predict what to address in that year’s flu vaccine.
“Secondly, it’s exacerbated in the winter because we are all indoors. Viruses can be spread in the air or by touch, but when we’re all indoors and are breathing the same air and touching the same surfaces, your odds of getting sick go way up. There’s a lot more direct human contact than when you’re outside and these things get dissipated,” she said.
Flu season typically starts in October and peaks near the end of January or in February, Welliver said.
Self-protection
So how do you avoid colds and flu all together? Cough into your sleeve and keep your hands away from your face.
“So, (transmission) is probably by contact, like shaking hands with someone, or if the countertop is contaminated,” Welliver said.
“And then you rub your eye or rub your nose and you can infect yourself. If you just keep your hands away from your face, nothing is going to happen. That virus is going to be destroyed in probably 10 minutes.”
For extra protection, however, Welliver recommends using packaged alcohol wipes throughout the day to kill viruses.
“You take those and rub your hands with them until they’re dry. Get under your fingernails and your thumb. People tend to overlook their thumbs. And then you’re OK. You can do that with soap and water but it takes longer. You need to scrub for 20 seconds. So, alcohol preps are quicker and probably more effective than soap and water,” he said.
Welliver says there’s no reason not to get a flu vaccination.
“Flu vaccines are a controversial topic, but I can get to the bottom line ... It’s not dangerous. You don’t get the flu from the flu vaccine.
“You don’t get other bizarre illnesses that people attribute to flu from the flu vaccine. It keeps a certain number of people alive; it keeps a certain number of people out of the hospital. So you should get a flu vaccine every year. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, it’s still worth getting it because we’re not seeing a whole lot of flu yet.”