This Damn Flu going around

[Daradon]

Wow, looks like I didn't get it as bad as most people, and usually I get colds and flus really hard.

I just had a bad head cold for close to a week. Sinuses, bad cough, sore throat. Sounds like I got off easy.

[pylon]

I had it through the holidays, but it was fast and furious. Hit me out of nowhere. In 4 hours I went from fine to feeling the need to update my will. I had a fever with the sweats for 2 days, then had a chest cough for a few days, then back to normal. But for the first 2 days, I was incapacitated, and I sweat out about 10 pounds in 24 hours.

[troutman]

I still don't really understand the difference between the common cold, stomach ""flu", and influenza.

When people say they have the "flu", what do they have?

Why do NHL players only get the "flu"?

Seems to me true influenza wouldn't make you vomit.

[polak]

Originally Posted by troutman

I still don't really understand the difference between the common cold, stomach ""flu", and influenza.

When people say they have the "flu", what do they have?

Why do NHL players only get the "flu"?

Seems to me true influenza wouldn't make you vomit.

There is no such thing as "stomach flu".
InFLUenza is flu.

[Daradon]

Most people think stomach bug when they say flu, and cold when they think head cold, sinuses, coughing etc. But really, I believe the flu is any virus that is making you sick. Hence, influenza. Someone here probably knows.

[pylon]

Too me the line between a flu and cold is pooping and puking symptoms defining a flu.

But then again what do I know.

[Shaggin Wagon]

anybody get the flu shot and still get the flu? I think because last years batch of flu shot was less than effective a lot of people skipped it this year. I got the flu shot this year and have not gotten sick

[polak]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Most people think stomach bug when they say flu, and cold when they think head cold, sinuses, coughing etc. But really, I believe the flu is any virus that is making you sick. Hence, influenza. Someone here probably knows.

No, Ebola makes you sick but it's not a flu.

This is the influenza virus group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomy...nfluenza_virus

"stomach flu" usually refers to Gastroenteritis but it has nothing to do with influenza.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenteritis

[Kybosh]

Everyone should just eat right and exercise. You'll become invincible then.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by polak

There is no such thing as "stomach flu".
InFLUenza is flu.

That's what I thought. If influenza is a respiratory ailment, how could it make you poop and puke?

Are people equating food poisoning/gastro-intestinal bugs with the flu?

When you get a flu shot, what is that for?

I think when most people/doctors are talking about the "flu", they are really referring to stomach bugs.

[pylon]

Then I had the flu over the holiday then? I had a chest infection.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by polak

No, Ebola makes you sick but it's not a flu.

This is the influenza virus group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthomy...nfluenza_virus

"stomach flu" usually refers to Gastroenteritis but it has nothing to do with influenza.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenteritis

Yeah, I worded that a little wrong, I didn't mean to say influenza was ANY virus that makes you sick, it's obviously a group of viruses and not other types, like HIV etc.

And yeah, that's what I was trying to say, gastro is not related to influenza, though they are often confused.

[polak]

Oh and the common cold is completely different, less severe and much more common.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold

[getbak]

Originally Posted by pylon

Too me the line between a flu and cold is pooping and puking symptoms defining a flu.

But then again what do I know.

That's more likely a stomach virus (like Norwalk) or food poisoning.

I have read that a true flu will only cause vomiting in small children (which is probably why most of us relate it to the flu because when we were kids, that was a symptom).

A cold will typically only cause congestion in the chest and sinus, a sore throat and coughing, but you can still pretty much go about a normal day without being overly affected.

A flu will knock you out for a few days. Shakes and shivers and an inability to think straight are typical flu symptoms. It may be accompanied by congestion but not always.


I am not a doctor, but I come from a long line of hypochondriacs.

[The Goon]

Article in USA Today on how it's cutting through the States:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...break/1814629/

[polak]

Originally Posted by getbak

I am not a doctor, but I come from a long line of hypochondriacs.

Bahahaha,
I just came back to this thread to clarify that too. I'm not a doctor but every time I have a big event coming up I turn into a huge hypochondriac so I've googled the crap out of all of this stuff lol.

[HerbalMagic]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Did this year's flu shot target the correct strains?

If people had gotten the shot, could they have avoided the flu?

You say that like flu shots have worked in the past....

[sa226]

I have always associated viruses with fever. I thought that a fever was your bodies way of killing that little #######.

So my understanding has always been that the common cold was a respiratory tract infection from a virus that led to sneezing, coughing, chills etc, etc.

The influenza virus I though was when you are bedridden, have a more severe fever, lack of appetite and vommitting.

Then you have the nazi viruses like norwalk, H1N1, bird flu etc etc that do all sorts of gross things to you.

Where my understanding gets derailed is just a domicile regular cold where your nose runs and you have a bit of congestion. Is that just a bacterial infection? Or is it some sissy virus that your body lays a blitzkrieg on? But if its a virus, then why is there no accompanying fever?

[Kybosh]

I wouldn't believe anything 'Herbal Magic' the poster or 'Herbal Magic' the company says regarding health related items.

[Minnie]

The flu, or influenza is is a viral infection that mimics a cold except that it starts forcefully with symptoms of fatigue, fever, and respiratory congestion, can lead to pneumonia and is caused by influenza types A, B, or C. Influenza is your common cold on steroids. In other words, a common cold is Sheldon from Big Bang Theory - influenza is Chuck Norris.

Stomach flu should really be referred to as Gastroenteritis -this is what causes abdominal cramping, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.