# The flu **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370 "2008-12-09T07:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkd88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pkd88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkd88)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/1 "2008-12-09T07:59:10Z")
I am Currently sick with what I assume is the flu. The strain of the flu changes every year. I assume the symptoms change too. Can a doctor clearly know the symptoms and help diagnose the currect flu? Is this info available to the public? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/2 "2008-12-09T08:15:25Z")
I was recently informed here that if I had the strength to post on a messageboard, then I definitely did not have the flu. ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/3 "2008-12-09T11:46:15Z")
> [@pkd88](#): > > I am Currently sick with what I assume is the flu. > > The strain of the flu changes every year. I assume the symptoms change too. Can a doctor clearly know the symptoms and help diagnose the currect flu? Is this info available to the public? IANADoctor but - while we are waiting for qualified input - my understanding that the symptoms do not change significantly with the strain of the 'flu virus. According to the [UK NHS:](http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Flu/Pages/Symptoms.aspx?url=Pages/What-is-it.aspx) > [@](#): > > The symptoms are: > > [ul] > [li]fever that comes on quickly (38-40C; 100-104F), [/li][li]sweating and feeling feverish, [/li][li]general muscle aches and pains, [/li][li]a feeling of general tiredness, [/li][li]dry, chesty cough, [/li][li]sneezing, [/li][li]running or blocked nose, and [/li][li]difficulty sleeping.[/li][/ul] > > Babies and small children with flu can also have the following symptoms: > > [ul] > [li]lethargy (drowsy, unresponsive, limp or floppy), and [/li][li]poor feeding.[/li][/ul] > The symptoms can also include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, especially in children. The differences between the types of flu is the severity with which these hit you not the actual list of symptoms! And **prr** is right - if you’ve the energy to post on the SDMB it probabaly isn’t flu. There are umpteen viruses that can give you similar symptoms. Again as I understand it, the main difference is that flu hits you very quickly - half an hour or so from fine to warmed up death - rather than the symptoms coming on gradually. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/4 "2008-12-09T12:05:51Z")
IANAD, but **Qadgop the Mercotan** is, and one particular post he made about the flu sticks with me: He said, basically, imagine you have a cut-off notice for your electric, in the amount of $100.00. Now imagine there is a $100.00 bill laying in your yard. If you have the strength to go out and pick up the $100.00 thereby preventing electricity shut-off, it ain’t the flu. Of course, all of that doesn’t mean you don’t feel like crap, I’m sure you do. And I hope you feel better soon! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/5 "2008-12-09T13:54:15Z")
Symptoms don’t change from year to year, unless you include the rare strain which has death as a common symptom. What changes is the exact shape of a couple of molecules on the surface of the virus that the body’s immune system recognizes. Think of the virus putting on a pair of Groucho Marx glasses as a disguise to get into your body. It’s still (basically) the same underneath. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/6 "2008-12-09T14:43:21Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > IANAD, but **Qadgop the Mercotan** is, and one particular post he made about the flu sticks with me: He said, basically, imagine you have a cut-off notice for your electric, in the amount of $100.00. Now imagine there is a $100.00 bill laying in your yard. If you have the strength to go out and pick up the $100.00 thereby preventing electricity shut-off, it ain’t the flu. > > Of course, all of that doesn’t mean you don’t feel like crap, I’m sure you do. And I hope you feel better soon! People often say that, but don’t some people have more stamina than others? I remember having the flu one time when I was in high school. It definitely came on very quickly, and I remember having horrible symptoms at times, but also being able to walk around–I wasn’t like totally bedridden. But I also remember lying there having awful aches in my whole body that were so bad I couldn’t sleep even though I really wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/7 "2008-12-09T15:35:54Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > People often say that, but don’t some people have more stamina than others? The $100 analogy is a tongue-in-cheek generalization, and as such is largely true with many exceptions. As a rule though, someone in the throes of acute influenza infection will be minimally inclined to be reading, conversing, surfing the net, eating, or engaging in most productive activities besides being curled up in bed feeling like hell and contemplating death as a reasonable option. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/8 "2008-12-09T15:36:14Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > People often say that, but don’t some people have more stamina than others? > > I remember having the flu one time when I was in high school. It definitely came on very quickly, and I remember having horrible symptoms at times, but also being able to walk around–I wasn’t like totally bedridden. But I also remember lying there having awful aches in my whole body that were so bad I couldn’t sleep even though I really wanted to. Yes, I’m sure some people do have more stamina than others. Thankfully for me, it’s been years and years since I’ve had the flu ::knock wood:: I do know this, though: my youngest daughter had the flu about five years ago. She was four years old. Even after she was diagnosed (on a Monday) and the doctor said she could go back to school on Thursday, the following Saturday was her best friend’s birthday party. At Chuck E Cheese, no less. And she felt too crummy to go. I guess a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese is a 4YO’s version of the $100.00 bill on the lawn. (Just btw, I sent her to school Thursday, because that’s what the doctor said to do. The school sent her back home within two hours). It’s more likely that what people are referring to with this kind of analogy is people going about their ordinary lives, maybe coughing, sniffling, a little nausea, saying they have “a touch of the flu”, when there really is no such thing. You either have it and you’re sick as a dog, or you don’t have it. ---
**Author:** ![pkd88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pkd88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkd88)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/9 "2008-12-09T15:36:59Z")
\*Please don’t think I am asking for medical advice, I am just using my current situation as an example. \* I was assuming that the core symptoms changed yearly. I see that the symptoms of the flu are solid so my assumptions were wrong. What I have is major vomiting, weakness and soreness. I have zero breathing, nose, snot, phlegm issues, only the vomiting and weakness. It is actually painful at times. I know others have this illness. My friends entire family was stuck with it. Does what I have have a name or is it just “a virus”? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/10 "2008-12-09T15:54:27Z")
> [@pkd88](#): > > \*Please don’t think I am asking for medical advice, I am just using my current situation as an example. > \* > > I was assuming that the core symptoms changed yearly. I see that the symptoms of the flu are solid so my assumptions were wrong. > > What I have is major vomiting, weakness and soreness. I have zero breathing, nose, snot, phlegm issues, only the vomiting and weakness. It is actually painful at times. I know others have this illness. My friends entire family was stuck with it. > > Does what I have have a name or is it just “a virus”? Viral gastritis is a good guess. It can be caused by a wide variety of viruses. It can range from a brief 12 hour annoyance to a 7 day seemingly endless ordeal. If you had diarrhea instead of vomiting, we’d call it viral enteritis. If you had both, viral gastro-enteritis. It could be due to a bacterial infection or toxin too (to name only two other common causes), but the smart money is on virus. But it’s certainly not influenza. Still sucks, though. [The CDC’s take on it](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/gastro.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/11 "2008-12-09T16:13:03Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Symptoms don’t change from year to year, unless you include the rare strain which has death as a common symptom. For the record, even the average influenza[kills an average of 36,000](http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030107.htm) people in the United States each year (link from 2003). Sure, it’s no 1918 flu epidemic, but death is a common enough “symptom” with the flu that it shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially in the elderly. That number isn’t necessarily gospel - lots of people argue over exactly how to tally flu deaths, since it’s not usually “influenza” itself that kills someone, it’s pneumonia or another complication that develops once a person is weakened by the flu. But still, flu kills. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/12 "2008-12-09T17:12:45Z")
I recently had the flu, still getting over the dregs of it. I coincidentally got a magazine to read while sick that explained the differences between a cold and flu. The flu is all over, body aches and multiple symptoms whereas a cold will usually just affect one area, such as a “head cold” or “chest cold”. You may have a slight fever with a cold but if it goes over 100.5 F then it’s the flu. I had the all over signs as well as a fever that went up to at least 101 at one point, it may have gone higher I just wasn’t taking my temperature very often. So I say I had the flu. I also was too sick for at least a couple days to sit up at my desk and go online. When I finally did go online I could only stand it for a short time. I managed to attempt to go to work twice for a couple hours and a trip to the store for more medicine and supplies, only after taking some medicines. Each of those attempts wiped me out and I ended up feeling sicker afterwards. But let me tell you something, I would have crawled outside if there was a $100 bill on my lawn. My boyfriend was exposed to me as I started getting sick, he later reported to me some of the same symptoms but he was still able to go to work. Same virus but in me it was the flu and wiped me out for days, he was still able to function and aside from also having body aches it was really more like a bad cold for him. I tried to ask this question in another flu thread which then dropped off the page. Would I get any benefit from getting the flu shot after having the flu? Are there enough strains of the flu covered in the shot that I would at least be protected from getting it again? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/13 "2008-12-09T17:14:02Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > It’s more likely that what people are referring to with this kind of analogy is people going about their ordinary lives, maybe coughing, sniffling, a little nausea, saying they have “a touch of the flu”, when there really is no such thing. You either have it and you’re sick as a dog, or you don’t have it. My husband had a positive antibody test for influenza a few years ago, and had times where he felt good enough to play computer games (curled up on the couch, bundled in blankets, playing on his laptop), though often he didn’t. At one point he thought he felt well enough to do some dishes, only to end up collapsing onto the kitchen floor out of utter exhaustion, and having to crawl back to bed. Walking around doing stuff and just feeling kind of yucky isn’t influenza. (Insert standard commentary here about variability of humans, etc.) GI symptoms, from everything I’ve read on the subject, may be present - in addition to regular respiratory-related flu symptoms - in children with influenza but probably not in adults. ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/14 "2008-12-09T17:52:07Z")
How about the idea that you had, or were inoculated for, a similar enough strain that you get milder flu symptoms while others in your family might get it worse? Is that hooey? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/15 "2008-12-09T17:53:11Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I tried to ask this question in another flu thread which then dropped off the page. Would I get any benefit from getting the flu shot after having the flu? Are there enough strains of the flu covered in the shot that I would at least be protected from getting it again? As I said in that earlier thread, getting the flu shot will probably protect you from the other strains of influenza. I’d consider that a benefit. Hope you get back to this thread before it falls off the page. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/16 "2008-12-09T18:05:58Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > As I said in that earlier thread, getting the flu shot will probably protect you from the other strains of influenza. I’d consider that a benefit. > > Hope you get back to this thread before it falls off the page. Sorry I missed it, I checked that thread for a day or so and saw no responses I figured I just killed it. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu/476370/17 "2008-12-09T19:11:20Z")
My friend’s 8YO granddaughter was diagnosed with flu last week, when her temperature shot up to 106 and they were having great difficulty getting it back down! :eek: