influenza

[storms4real]

I I don't know if you all have hered, but there has been an outbreak of the respiratory flu around the Chicago Area. I recogment you wash your hands before AND after you eat, handle money, go to the bathroom, or even touch ANYTHING. This flu is spread through the little dopplets ejected from an infected's sneze, caugh, or their snot. (from their nose). When your walking anywhere, NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT touch ANYTHING because it could have the horrable flu. (why everything? because when you caugh or sneeze, your soppost to caugh on your arm. When you do this, not everything goes on your arm. Some infected residue still spreads around, perticularly on stuff on the ground!)

You may be thinking: "yeah yeah yeah, I will", when you neverm do. Well I have news for buddie. I read something in a the paper a week or so ago, with this same information, thinking "yeah yeah yeah, I will", and I didn't. My result: guess who haves the respiratory flu. ME. I've had it for about two weeks with out even knowing it until saturday. Why didn't I know, there were symtoms [listed below] that I didn't know, tied into the bad flu.

NOTE: this data is based off of what I PERSONALLY had during my influenza experiance. You may see changes every now and then.
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SYMTOMS BEFORE ANYTHING: ( 1 ) [can be 2-7 days]

- Pain in any muscles or bones [Particularly joints]
- minor headache

SYMTOMS BEFORE THE MAIN PEAK: ( 2 ) [can be 12 hrs-2 days

- minor soar throat
- Pain in any muscles or bones [Particularly joints] gets worse
- headache gets worse, in some cases, it wil be sensitive to light
- minor dry caugh ***COVER YOUR MOUTH WITH SOMETHING***

SYMTOMS DURING THE MAIN PEAK: ( 3 ) [can be 1-8 days]

- pain in muscles or bones [Particularly joints] fades off
- severe soar throat, nasal drip
- severe headache, particulary when you stand up after laying down.
- minor nasal congestion
- lose of appitite
- excessive tiredness
- fevers **CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM 99.0-107 F**
- dehydration (make sure you drink ALOT, even though it hurts so bad!)
- dry caugh ***COVER YOUR MOUTH WITH SOMETHING***

SYMTOMS DURING THE 'AFTERLIFE' ( 4 ) [can be 12 hrs-5 days]

- throat infection will fade off [ can be 5 hrs-1 day], only to come back again later...
- dry caugh gets worse **athsma most likily WILL be affected. [severe]
- pain in muscles and bones [Particularly joints] comes back [mild-bad]
- fevers *CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM 99.0-105 F*
- headaches will continue, not as strong
- cold-like symtoms such as:
* nasal congestion
* nasal drip

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IF YOU HAVE A FEVER HIGHER THEN 105 F, GO TO THE HOSPITAL. YOUR ORGANS COULD MELT, AND YOU COULD GET BRAIN DAMAGE!!! (this is extremely rare.)

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FLU TIMELINE

__1________________2________________3______________4_____

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Please stay safe!! Me having the flu right now, can tell you that It's not fun! (If your wondering, I am at the beginning of step 4).

[Patchy]

Just to add

If you live in the UK/Canada and have been admitted to hospital in the past 6 months for more than 24 hours or have asthma etc. you can get a free flu jab.

But yeah the flu is horrible but theres worse things going around at the moment.

Just do what you normally do and dont lick or put your hands near your face if youve been touching stuff in public places etc, e.g. a toilet handle in a public toilet

[Triple7]

Good warning. I believe the problem isn't isolated to the Chicago area though. I've heard on the news that the influenza vaccine has been ineffective as compared to vaccines in recent years. The way manufacturers make the yearly vaccine is by health officials' guessing of which strain will be the most likely one to spread fast during the coming winter, and the prediction for this year was wrong. As a result, people around the US, including those who got a vaccine this winter, are catching the flu anyway.

Another good tip to follow is to stay at home if you're sick to avoid spreading it to others.

(Ah... microbiology class...)

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

In my experience, the flu vaccine doesn't ever work. When my sister was alive, it was our biggest fear that she'd get something like the flu, which could have been devastating given her heart condition, so we all got the flu shot every year. Every time we got the flu shot, my mom and I would both get the flu. Twice. Once just before the big outbreak and then once again after everyone else was getting over it (although somehow, my sister never got it). And in the 3 years since then, without the shot, I haven't gotten the flu once. If you need a vaccine due to health reasons or to help protect a family member with health issues, go ahead and get it. But stay away from it if you can, especially with Triple7's point about the vaccine covering the wrong strains anyways. Just follow the tips that have been mentioned and don't stress about it (stress can suppress your immune system, so worrying too much can make you more susceptible).