Community Health - Treating the Flu

Care at home For most people, your body will fight off the flu within several days. If you have the flu, you should rest, drink plenty of clear liquids (water, juice, jello, popsicles, etc.) and take medicine (like Tylenol or ibuprofen) as directed to treat your symptoms.

If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, including pregnant women, and those with asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, contact your health care provider or seek medical care. Your health care provider will determine whether flu testing or treatment is needed. Be aware that if the flu becomes widespread, less testing will be needed, so your health care provider may decide not to test for the flu virus. Children under 18 years old should NOT take aspirin or aspirin-containing products (e.g., Bayer Children’s ChewableTM), as this can cause a rare serious illness called Reye’s Syndrome.

If you have these warning signs, seek immediate medical care

Children:

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing   
• Bluish skin color
• Not keeping down enough fluids
• Not waking up or not interacting
• So irritable child doesn’t want to be held   
• Flu-like symptoms improve but return with fever and worse cough
• Fever with a rash

Adults:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen 
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting

Antivirals and flu There are medicines called antivirals that health care providers can prescribe to help treat the flu. Antivirals do not kill viruses, so a person who is on antivirals is still contagious.

Antivirals can be used in two ways. They can be given to someone who is already showing symptoms (within two days) so that the illness will not last as long and symptoms will not be as severe. They can also be prescribed to someone who was exposed to flu, but is not yet showing symptoms.

Taking antivirals will not prevent the flu from infecting that person, but it will help prevent the virus from taking hold in their body. This reduces the chances of catching the virus and then passing it on to others. The two antivirals that are being recommended right now are:

• Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is for treating and preventing influenza infections in adults and children 1 year and older.
• Relenza (zanmivir) is for treating influenza virus infections in children 7 years and older, and adults who have an uncomplicated flu infection and who have symptoms for no more than 2 days. Relenza is also used to prevent flu infections in people 5 years and older.

For antivirals to be most effective, they must be prescribed within the first 48 hours of illness. Those at risk for complications of flu (pregnant women, those with asthma, diabetes, other chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, or compromised immune systems) should contact their physician when symptoms begin so their physician can consider prescribing an antiviral.

For full safety information on these drugs, talk to your health care provider. These medications are an important step in fighting flu, but do not replace the yearly flu vaccine.  To receive a seasonal flu or pneumonia vaccine, please visit the Immunization Page of the Huron County General Health District.

Help others stay well Everyone must do their part to prevent the spread of the flu.  If you are sick, you can protect other by:

• Staying home and away from others as much as possible for 7 days after your fever starts or at least 2 days after you feel better.
• Washing your hands a lot.
• Covering your coughs and sneezes with the crook of your arm.
• Getting help to care for children, senior citizens or those at risk for flu complications. Use a face mask if you must care for someone vulnerable to the flu.
• Resting and recovering in a room (like a bedroom) away from the rest of the family.
• Not sharing food, drinks or eating utensils.

If you are taking care of someone with the flu, you can protect yourself and the rest of your family from the flu by:

• Designating one person to care for the patient.
• Washing your hands thoroughly and often.
• Avoiding touching your mouth and eyes until after you have washed your hands.
• Wiping down surfaces with a disinfectant.