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How do you know? It often is not easy, because the initial picture is so much like many other respiratory infections. Plagiarism is taking from one. Research is taking from many. Let’s do some research about the nature of influenza, the disease.
Influenza A viruses are the primary culprits for flu maladies, but sometimes a B strain is the hit-virus. The word influenza is centuries old, meaning to flow into, from the Latin influens. Another old term is the (La) grippe (French), to grip or grab, from the French gripper, pronounced grippay. The term influenza has been used for centuries to connote almost any bad respiratory infection from many unrelated organisms, whether bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasite, etc. — in other words, a real “grabber.”
The description of symptoms of influenza from Harrison’s Manual of Medicine are: abrupt onset of headache, fever, chills, generalized muscle aches — especially in back and legs — malaise (French for feeling like merde, which is French for ——), cough and sore throat that become worse as the systemic symptoms settle down. The physical exam is pretty uneventful in uncomplicated flu. This reference says with no complications patients improve in two to five days and have mostly recovered in a week, although the cough can last a couple more. Post-influenzal asthenia (non-French for poopedness) may persist for weeks.
The description characterization from the Merck Manual of Medicine, 18th edition, is similar. After an incubation of one to four days, on average 48 hours, in mild cases many symptoms are like those of a common cold, such as sore throat and runny nose. But the typical adult picture is likely sudden onset of chills, fever, prostration (feeling like merde), cough, and generalized aches and pains. Headache is prominent, often with achy eyeballs. The first chest signs are scratchy sore throat; a dry, hacking cough; burning behind the sternum; and perhaps a runny nose. Later, cough dominates. Kids can have belly pain, nausea and seem very ill. After two to three days, acute symptoms rapidly subside, but fever may last up to five days. Cough, weakness, sweating and fatigue may persist for days and occasionally weeks.
A doctor columnist (not this one) has recently written that a sore throat and runny nose are common to both colds and flu, but a bad headache, the dry, hard cough, and joint and muscle pains are distinctly flu stuff.
So, how do you know what you have — influenza or one of the umpteen several other viruses that paint the similar mucoid picture? Definitive diagnosis is from swabs stuck through your nose, back to your throat or into your mouth, or washes of the areas, or sputum/ phlegm culture. What complicates the diagnosis and disease course are the complications, which can include pneumonias, bacterial or other viral, Reye’s syndrome, infection in the brain, heart or muscle, along with miscellaneous.
The best advice is to get a flu shot, which can lessen infections 70 percent to 90 percent, and decrease pneumonias 60 percent to 80 percent.
In doing further research, through some of my infamous towering, teetering piles of saved literature, I came across a reference to flu by Dave Barry (former Miami Herald humor columnist). His description went: “Winter’s here, and you feel lousy: you’re coughing and sneezing; your muscles ache; your nose is an active mucus volcano. These symptoms can mean only one thing: tiny fanged snails are eating your brain. No, seriously, brain snails are involved only 35 percent of the time. More likely you have a cold or flu. (The word “flu” is short for “the flu.”) According to the American Society of Medical Doctors Who Cannot See You Now, you should take these precautions: 1. Drink plenty of clear fluids (“fluids” is the medical term for beer). 2. Remove all doorknobs from your home and office. 3. If you have children — especially preschoolers — ship them to New Zealand. Also, just to be safe, you should get a snail shot.”
There, you have the cases presented from multiple distinguished references. You can make your own diagnosis, Dr. Mom. We have done our “research” (cough).
