My oldest stayed home from school today due to a low-grade fever, a scratchy throat, and a mild cough.\u00a0 A number of her classmates currently have the same symptoms.\u00a0 It\u2019s that time of year: cold-and-flu season,<\/i> I thought this morning.\u00a0 It\u2019s the time of year when much of the country starts lowering the storm windows and turning on the heat; ironically, here in southwest Florida, it\u2019s the time of year when we start opening up the windows and turning off the air conditioner.\u00a0 But no matter where you live, there\u2019s usually a cluster of respiratory illnesses in the autumn and winter.\u00a0 And I\u2019m certain that nearly every parent has received the following call, or something similar, at one time or another from a worried-sounding school nurse:<\/p>\n
Your child is here in my office and not feeling well.\u00a0 She has a headache and some body aches, along with a sore throat.\u00a0 I think she has the flu.\u00a0 Another student was just diagnosed with influenza A, so it\u2019s going around the school, and given her symptoms, it\u2019s likely that she also has it.\u00a0 We have a mandatory policy that students with the flu remain at home until they are completely well, and for a minimum of 5 days.<\/i><\/p>\n
Who hasn\u2019t heard an unfortunately ill friend or loved one announce that they \u201chave the flu?\u201d\u00a0 When I was seeing patients as a family doctor, it must have been one of the most frequent phrases uttered during the winter months\u2026but from my standpoint as both a family doc and an immunologist, one of the most misunderstood.<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0 Because not all respiratory illnesses are actually \u201cthe flu.\u201d\u00a0 Even when they look<\/i> like \u201cthe flu.\u201d\u00a0 Confused?\u00a0 You\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at \u201cthe flu\u201d a bit more closely.<\/p>\n
The syndrome, or collection of symptoms, commonly called \u201cthe flu\u201d is caused by the influenza virus, of which there are three large groups, Types A, B, and C.\u00a0 Types A and B cause most of the influenza disease.\u00a0 Influenza virus is highly transmissible, passed by the spread of air-borne droplets from coughing or sneezing, directly through person-to-person contact, and indirectly through contact with contaminated surfaces.\u00a0 Not everyone who is infected will show symptoms, but when symptoms do appear, it\u2019s typically within a day or two of infection.<\/p>\n
Classically, the symptoms of influenza infection arise rapidly and can include high fever, muscle aches, headache, sore throat, dry cough, runny nose, and fatigue.\u00a0 Patients stop being infectious within about 24 hours after the fever disappears.\u00a0 When you consider that these symptoms are often shared by the common cold, it\u2019s easy to see why there\u2019s so much confusion.\u00a0 But an experienced clinician can usually tell whether a patient\u2019s symptoms are more likely to represent \u201cthe flu\u201d or a garden-variety cold.<\/p>\n
But even when it looks<\/i> like \u201cthe flu,\u201d it\u2019s impossible to tell for sure without laboratory tests.\u00a0 A great number of other viruses and bacteria can cause respiratory illnesses clinically indistinguishable from that of influenza.\u00a0 True influenza accounts for only a fraction of everything which looks<\/i> like \u201cthe flu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then should everyone be tested?\u00a0 Should everyone be treated?\u00a0 The answer to both questions is no,<\/i> because fortunately, the vast majority of patients will get better without any intervention.<\/p>\n
Like the common cold, influenza is typically self-limited, with symptoms usually resolving in about a week in healthy children and adults.\u00a0 Anti-viral medications used for influenza won\u2019t work well for influenza-like illness caused by other microbes, and they\u2019re usually reserved for individuals at risk or those who have severe disease or complications.\u00a0 Those at risk include the very young and the very old, those with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic conditions which can interfere with the body\u2019s ability to heal itself, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and sickle cell anemia. \u00a0Your healthcare provider can determine whether influenza testing and anti-viral treatment are warranted.<\/p>\n
As we head into cold-and-flu season, it\u2019s wise to remember that \u201can ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\u201d\u00a0 (I\u2019m going to ignore the annual flu vaccine here because, at this time, there is a good deal of debate over its true benefits.)\u00a0 One of the best low-tech preventive strategies is thorough and frequent handwashing using plain soap and water; antimicrobial preparations aren\u2019t necessary.\u00a0 Sneeze or cough into a tissue or the inside crook of your elbow to avoid spreading infections to others.\u00a0 Maintain your reserves and keep your immune system in tip-top shape by getting plenty of rest, eating healthily, exercising, and spending lots of time in the fresh air.<\/p>\n
Influenza is just one microbe which can interfere in the life and work of a voice actor\u2026or anyone else, for that matter.\u00a0 At times, no matter how well we take care of ourselves, many of us wind up getting sick\u2026usually with something not too serious, thank goodness.\u00a0 In a future entry, I\u2019ll address strategies for dealing with common respiratory illness.<\/p>\n
Here are some resources regarding influenza which you may find helpful:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/flu\/about\/season\/flu-season-2013-2014.htm#prepare<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.aafp.org\/afp\/2010\/1101\/p1087.html<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.who.int\/mediacentre\/factsheets\/fs211\/en\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.who.int\/influenza\/GIP_InfluenzaVirusInfectionsHumans_Jul13.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My oldest stayed home from school today due to a low-grade fever, a scratchy throat, and a mild cough.\u00a0 A number of her classmates currently have the same symptoms.\u00a0 It\u2019s that time of year: cold-and-flu season, I thought this morning.\u00a0 It\u2019s the time of year when much of the country starts lowering the storm windows […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elizabethharrisvoice.com\/healthvoiceover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}