# Two hour flu? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012 "2013-04-18T05:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/1 "2013-04-18T05:40:51Z")
I’ve heard of a twenty four hour flu but I seem to occasionally get a much faster variant. Like tonight I came home(I had been feeling a bit worn down and tired but nothing dramatic) and took a drink of soda and…the hell am I burping or vomiting. Vomiting it is then! Afterward it was noticed I had a high temp, had to lay down as I was feeling horrible. Two hours later I woke up, no fever and I was hungry.😕Feel fine now as if I was never sick. I noticed my son was also hot, and is now fine although he did not vomit. I’d think food poisoning but I didn’t eat anything all day except a bite of pizza, which in retrospect the lack of appetite might have been an indicator. I’ve had this happen to me occasionally where I seem to get sick then recover really fast, what is this? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/2 "2013-04-18T05:58:04Z")
Well it’s certainly no flu of any type, you’d be in bed for days. It’s a cold your immune system fought off, I imagine, or conceivably a gastro thing, like bad food. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/3 "2013-04-18T06:21:50Z")
Sounds to me like it could possibly be an allergy of some kind. Another possibility is toxic food poisoning - that is, a reaction to residual bacterial toxins in food, even if the bacteria that caused it have been destroyed by cooking. The onset of toxic food poisoning can be rapid. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/4 "2013-04-20T02:29:18Z")
I think we get minidiseases and microdiseases all the time, as part of what our immune systems are up to day in and day out. Some days you feel better than others, without ever calling yourself sick. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/5 "2013-04-20T03:08:25Z")
I vote food poisoning, or, it’s something your body thought was poison (analogous to an allergic reaction, only, your tummy’s doing the rejecting). Most cases of ‘24 hour flus’ are actually food poisoning. A real flu will hammer you for over a week. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/6 "2013-04-20T03:22:30Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Most cases of ‘24 hour flus’ are actually food poisoning. Cite? I agree very few short lived episodes of vomiting and diarrhea are influenza, but food poisoning is not very common at all. Most are viruses or bacteria unrelated to influenza and not associated with contaminated food. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/7 "2013-04-20T03:36:56Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > Cite? > > I agree very few short lived episodes of vomiting and diarrhea are influenza, but food poisoning is not very common at all. Most are viruses or bacteria unrelated to influenza and not associated with contaminated food. Food poisoning is indeed common: _In the United States, using FoodNet data from 2000–2007, the CDCP estimated [there were 47.8 million foodborne illnesses per year](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_poisoning#United_States) (16,000 cases for 100,000 inhabitants): [41]_ The 24 hour flu is indeed _not_ the flu: _[Influenza](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flu) may produce nausea and vomiting, particularly in children,[1] but these symptoms are more common in the unrelated gastroenteritis, which is sometimes inaccurately referred to as “stomach flu” or “24-hour flu”.[3]_ ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-hour-flu/656012/8 "2013-04-20T03:54:04Z")
As soon as I read it I thought “food poisoning.”