What is the flu?

I guess there are alot of different bugs but I’m more curious about how it affects adults rather than kids.

Seems like vomiting comes with the flu 99% of the time for kids. However, I have not vomited due to an illness in the last 30 years.

When I get the flu now as an adult (or what I assume is the flu) I’m usually down for 36 to 48 hours with fever, chills, headache, maybe some congestion and then one morning I wake up and I’m all better.

Incidentally this last go around I’ve had a lingering cough (3 weeks) that I’ve never had before.

If you’re better after just 48 hours, I somehow think you’re mistaking a bad cold for the 'flu. In most summaries I’ve seen, and when I’ve had bouts myself, the illness is over many days, not just hours.

Vomiting is not a flu symptom. The flu is a respiratory illness, not a stomach or intestinal illness. Common flu symptoms are high fever, muscle aches, cough and weakness. It really is a severe illness - if you’re completely over it in a couple of days, it most likely wasn’t the flu. People sometimes feel weak for a couple of weeks after a bout with the flu. It kills people sometimes (usually the very young, the very old and people with compromised immune systems).

Helpful link: http://familydoctor.org/x7554.xml

Rule of thumb. If you are lying on your couch, and you see a hundred dollar bill blow onto your lawn, and you have influenza, you won’t get up to go fetch the bill.

maybe this link works! http://familydoctor.org/073.xml