Cold and Flu

No; the skin is an effective barrier. If there is a cut in the skin, a virus can enter through the cut. The mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, genital area, anus) are areas that a virus can enter.

In otherwise healthy adults, it usually takes around 12-14 days for the flu vaccines to create the immune response needed for immunity. The swine flu vaccine was made from a good sample and in most healthy adults it created immunity in 8-10 days.

People with immunocompromising disorders can sometimes never develop full immunity or it may take longer and/or booster shots. It is recommended that they get the vaccines made from the inactivated virus particles and that they continue to use good hand washing and other protective measures, in case their systems do not create full immunity.

Children under 10 need two flu vaccinations to develop immunity. They are given the first vaccination, then in a month they need a second vaccination. After approximately 2-3 weeks from the second vaccination, if their immune systems are otherwise normal, they will be protected for life against that very specific organism.

Well, those pimples can possibly be pus-filled sores that cause strep throat, a bacterial infection of the throat. Usually you get it from someone who you have had oral contact with, or has coughed or sneezed on you. The symptoms of strep throat, or streptococcal pharyngitis, are not being able to swallow very much, painful swelling in throat, pus-filled sores colored yellow or white, the lack of coughing, loss of appitite, and redness of throat. It can be treated with antibiotics or just plain comfort liquids such as tea. But be sure to see your doctor to be tested for this. Only 12% of sore throats end up as strep throat, and if you happen to have it, and do nothing to fix it, it can lead to serious conditions such as rheumatic fever, clogging of the heart valves, and making it hard for the host to the bacteria hard to breathe. I am in seventh grade and have just done an oral report on "My Favorite Bacterial/Viral Disease". Glad to

My name is Paella Man. I was born of the 3rd of March, 1964. I was brought up with 3 brothers, 1 sister and my parents in a small house in the town of Cullera near Valencia. From a young age I had an interest in cooking and at the age of 12, I made my first paella. I struggled at school with most subjects but I succeeded at cooking. Throughout my life, I have been at the centre of what seems to be a whirlwind of events. I have learnt many things during my time on this planet, some I will never forget, and some I will always regret.

Yes, in fact sometimes the flu causes laryngitis. Laryngitis is a symptom of the inflammation of the vocal cords and can be caused by many things including the flu, a common cold, being "hoarse" from yelling, emotional stress, etc. Resting your voice and gargling with salt water often helps.

No food is per se "bad" for a cold. However, dairy products can increase the sensation of stuffiness or mucus production. You will feel somewhat better by avoiding them for the duration of the cold.

Yes, (in my opinion) it has happened to me whilst mountain climbing, but generally it will freeze on the layer you are wearing rather than on your skin, your body temperature will stop that but exposed skin is different then you get into frostbite, but considering the fluid on your eye balls (even though a slightly saline solution!)can freeze in extreme temperatures its not surprising. Yes, (in my opinion) it has happened to me whilst mountain climbing, but generally it will freeze on the layer you are wearing rather than on your skin, your body temperature will stop that but exposed skin is different then you get into frostbite, but considering the fluid on your eye balls (even though a slightly saline solution!)can freeze in extreme temperatures its not surprising.

For now there is only the prevention provided by an annual flu vaccination coordinated with proper hand washing and other similar behavioral precautions. There is promising work and beginning trials being done on creating a "universal" flu vaccine that will be effective for more (or all) of the types of influenza and will hopefully one day be used to replace the current annual vaccines, but it is not yet ready or available.

http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_pdr.jspzQzpgzEzzSzppdocszSzuszSzcnszSzcontentzSzpdrotczSzotc_fullzSzdrugszSzfgotc331zPzhtm



I just ran into this same question myself, and I believe your answer is on the bottom of this site... basically says 'Do not take theraflu with Valium or Xanax until you talk to your doctor. Combination could cause extreme drowsiness'.

Normal, healthy urine is sterile when it's in the bladder and does not contain germs.

Most infections of the upper respiratory system are viral so i think that amoxicillin will not really help you cure your cough.You should see a doctor because your cough has lasted way longer than it should.Do not forget to keep warm and alternate cold drinks with warm ones.Honey also helps with your cough,just try taking a spoon of honey whenever you cough....i hope you recover!!

Commonly, you will start to get a stuffy or runny nose and coughs and sneezes. So, if you feel anything coming on like a sore throat, it hurts to cough, you are sneezing frequently, get tired and can't sleep, you feel dizzy when you get up after sitting, you should consult your health care professional for a diagnosis and treatment before it gets worse. (Note: antibiotics are not effective in treating a cold, they are only for bacterial infections and a cold is caused by viruses, don't ask your doctor for antibiotics for a cold.) You usually just have to ride it out over the 7 - 10 day course until your body can cure the cold. Use OTC remedies for sore throat, fever, cough, aches, runny nose and congestion.

See more in the related questions below about how to treat a cold and cold symptoms.

Your average body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius and anything over or under that can make you sick, depending on the difference aka. if you're 38 degrees, then you would have a headache but if your body temp is 43 degrees, you would be comatose (in a coma)

You should not apply isopropyl alcohol directly to the forehead or anywhere else on the body. Isopropyl alcohol, unlike ethyl (drinkable) alcohol, is toxic to the body. In small amounts applied to wounds, it is not harmful, but since isopropyl alcohol is easily absorbed by the skin, it can rise to toxic levels very quickly. However, since rubbing alcohol is offered as either isopropyl or ethyl alcohol, if you have a purely ethyl alcohol and water- based rubbing alcohol, it can be used for this purpose. However, it should first be diluted with more water since it is of a very high concentration that is still harmful to the body. Use about 1 part ethyl rubbing alcohol, 2-4 parts water. Obviously, do not use this on young children because it has the same effect as if you gave them alcohol to drink.

Sure won't hurt, it also won't help. It might feel cooling but it won't significantly affect your internal body temp. You need to rid your body of infection or take a medication that will lower your temp such as aspirin, acetominphen, or ibuprofen. However, don't take aspirin if you are under 15 years old because of the risk of Rye's Syndrome. Studies have shown that using isoprpyl alcohol and water baths for fever can be dangerous. The fumes from the mixture can be harmful to both the person being bathed and the person giving the bath as they can be absorbed through the lungs. The isopropyl alcohol can also be absorbed by the skin when applied to the skin. The amount of alcohol that would be used in a bath could lead to alcohol toxicity. Medical studies have shown that inhalation or absorption from the skin could lead to toxic levels of isopropyl alcohol.

There's no set rule, mostly because the common cold does not in and of itself have an effect on pulse rate, at least that I can point to. In the field, I would expect to see someone with a severe cold to present a slightly elevated pulse. So if the patient were resting normal at 72bpm I might expect to see 80bpm (although the margin for error here is too great to say it causes a reall 10% increase).

The flu or influenza is a common virus to pick up in the winter and can seemingly last forever. This respiratory sickness can take from 4 to 10 days to subside depending on how much rest you allow yourself. Take this opportunity to enjoy your favorite movies.

No, neither cold nor rain cause colds, but a virus does. There is no relationship between cold and the common cold. It is an old belief from before people knew about germs since most colds came at the same time as the colder weather. See the related questions for more details about this subject.

No, it isn't dangerous. What you take to soothe your cough may be dangerous. Before treating yourself, check with your doctor. Typically, throat losenges are okay and over the counter Tylonol cold (again, talk to your doctor first).

A nonproductive cough is a cough that does not bring up phlegm or mucus. It is also called a dry cough, and tends to irritate the throat much more than a productive cough (a cough that brings up phlegm and/or mucus) does.

They do not want to circulate the air with the air from the outside, because hospital air could lead to airborne infection. That is my bet why they are cold. ---- As a doctor i work in hospitals all the time and I've not noticed that they are cold. It may be that they are very large places and large places are often hard to heat. Places such as; airports, schools and churches may experience the same problems.

not that sick. Skip a day at work or school and you will be ok. just get alot of rest within that day that you skip, and you will feel better.

According to the World Health Organization:

"As of 28 February 2010, worldwide more than 213 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 16455 deaths."

See related questions below for more information.

As medical discoveries go, influenza viruses were late to be isolated, mostly because of their sub-microscopic size.

In 1901 the hint of the existence of these infectious agents was found when it was proved that the "germ" was not bacteria by discovering that it passed right through a filter that would have trapped bacteria. The poultry virus that was called "fowl plague" at the time was not filtered out by the Chamberland filters like bacteria would have been, so it was known that something smaller was what caused the fowl flu.

In 1931 Richard Shope found the family of viruses that caused the flu in pigs, and the Orthomyxoviridae family of viruses that he discovered was named as the cause of the influenza.

In 1933 Patrick Laidlaw and a group at the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom were able to isolate the flu virus from humans. But much was still to be known about these microbes.

Things started advancing more in the discoveries in 1935 when the first crystallized virus, that became known as the tobacco mosaic virus, was isolated by Wendell Stanley. His studies allowed much more to be known about viruses and their nature, including their non-cellular qualities.

Yes