Trunk, I don’t know the answer to your first question (where are the viruses themselves), but I have heard **Qadop *and other doctors say that 24 hour “flu” is almost certainly a case of mild food contamination or “food poisoning”. Sorry, I’m not willing to cite it at the moment, but hopefully one of those actual doctors will be in shortly with a good link. Or I’ll have a chance to later today.
(*WhyBaby’s crying, gotta go.)
(Baby’s happy now, banging on the keys. If there’re typos, it’s her fault!)
Clostridum oerfringens is a common bacteria in food, and is one of the main culprits in “24 hour flu”.
And now a word from the baby: u mnyhg b bvcnexxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you.
I didn’t say this earlier so as not to bias anyone, but that day, I’d actually eaten a bunch of shrimp and as stupid as this sounds. . .I “felt” like it was the shrimp that did it.
Within hours of eating, I had serious rumblings, and then full-on two-ended expulsions. I’ve never felt more like my body was just trying to get rid of what was in it.
That’s probably what it was.
Influenza is generally not a gastro-intestinal disease. If your major symptoms are nausea and vomiting and you’re an adult, you probably have something else.
QtM, then why do they call it the stomach flu then? Just some sort of common knowledge?
And can I ask you another question? Why is it that I’ve never gotten the flu? I’ve even been with my parents, taking care of them for a whole weekend when they had the flu and I never caught it. Isn’t it contagious? Am I just immune?
Here is a link to help understand the difference between colds and flu http://familydoctor.org/x7554.xml
Check out the home page of this link for many, many useful health tips/facts brought to you by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Misconception abounds about the differences. “Flu” should properly be used only to describe an illness related to the strain of viruses known as “Influenza”. In common use however, many other viral illness get the label “flu”. Stomach flu, when used in this context refers to a viral gastroenteritis, not food poisoning.
There are a huge number of non-Influenza viruses that cause clinical illness, from minor to severe/lifethreatening. Some cause colds, some cause sore throats, some cause vomiting/diarrhea, some cause rashes, some cause earaches, some cause bronchitis, some cause meningitis, and the list goes on… But again, properly speaking, these should not be called “flu”.
What Oslerknew said. And I suspect you were just fortunate. Perhaps resistant to some strains, or possibly just didn’t get an adequate inoculation of them. Just don’t go around thinking you can’t get it.
Aequanimitas, Oslerknew.
What’s your connection with Doctor Sir Willie?
QtM, former grunt in the Osler Marines at the East Baltimore Dispensary.
And to you as well. 
No formal connection to Hopkins, but Osler is my personal inspiration for all things medical in the realm of the powers of observation and introspection.
Cheers,
Another family doc and a Dope newbie!
Welcome! More power to you! You gots yourself a great role model there!
But despite my miniscule surgical skills, I identify with Halsted a bit more than Osler. 'cept I got better. 
I also had the Hong Kong flu in '68. Worst I’ve ever felt. I was dilerious for a couple of days, and horribly sick and weak for many more. I too lost close to 20 lbs., and there were a couple of times I’m sure I was praying for death to put me out of my misery.
I heard this in slightly longer form:
If someone drops a $100 bill outside, and you have a bad cold, you can’t go out and get it.
If the same thing happens and you have the 'flu, you don’t care about going to get it.