Increase Your Odds of Fighting Off the Flu Virus
About one in 10 of us come down with influenza during a typical season, but despite this, influenza is still often confused with colds, food poisoning and other afflictions. Many who should be prepared are not.
Here are some sites to help get you up to speed:
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ pages on influenza are readable and studded with facts you don’t ordinarily find in flu brochures. The basics are here too, of course. The institute is clear, for instance, that “people with colds rarely get fevers or headaches or suffer from the extreme exhaustion that flu viruses cause.” Other symptoms include chills, dry cough, body aches, stuffy nose and sore throat. An average flu season lasts about six weeks, the site says, and the virus travels by any route available--through the air, by touch, lingering on door handles and telephone receivers. The symptoms usually last a week, and you’re contagious most of that time. The site has a nice rundown of the prescription drugs available to treat flu symptoms, such as Tamiflu and Flumadine, as well as a brief discussion of how vaccines are made.
The site even spells out possible complications of the flu, including pneumonia, which can be life-threatening, and Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious liver and brain disease.
If you or your kids are too sick to read through all this, several other sites give quick-and-dirty answers to basic questions. Go to www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/flu.htm
* Nemours Foundation, a hospital-affiliated health charity, posts several pages describing what influenza is, how long it usually lasts and when to call your doctor. There’s also a page on home treatments. Go to www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/lung/flu.html.
* Roche Pharmaceuticals, maker of the prescription flu therapy Tamiflu, posts pages with brief answers to questions like: Is the flu dangerous? Can the flu be cured with antibiotics? Should I call my doctor? You won’t learn much about the virus itself on these sites, but you will discover how long your symptoms will last, when you’re contagious and what to do about it. Go to www.igotflu.com.
* Maxim Health Systems, a Columbia, Md.-based company, contracts with retail outlets such as drugstore chains and grocery stores to sell flu vaccinations, usually for about $15 a shot. Its Web site allows visitors to punch in their ZIP codes to find the closest location where shots are being given, including phone numbers and times. Go to www.findaflushot.com.
* Los Angeles Department of Health Services also posts pages on its flu vaccination program. Go to lapublichealth.org/ip/flu/FLU2001-02.htm.
