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Cold and Flu
Questions and answers about the "Common Cold"; symptoms in the upper respiratory tract like sneezing, scratchy throat, and runny nose, but adults don't typically have fevers. Colds are usually caused by the rhinovirus (up to 40% of colds), or Coronaviruses (about 20%), but there are more than 200 viruses that can cause the common cold. Also questions about the seasonal flu, also called "regular flu", caused mostly by Type A and Type B Influenza viruses. Flu starts with similar symptoms as a cold only it hits faster and harder and usually includes fever in adults. Although the "stomach flu" is a common term, it is not a real diagnosis. The proper medical term for stomach flu is gastroenteritis (an intestinal disease, sometimes viral but also bacterial), it is often mistaken for influenza because the flu can sometimes include vomiting and diarrhea.
4,331 Questions
Can daytime theraflu cough and cold make you hyper?
Daytime Theraflu Cough and Cold can make you hyper depending on how much is taken. It is designed to fight the symptoms but can also have a number of side effects depending on body chemistry.
What is the difference between Type B flu viruses and the Swine Flu?
They are different types of influenza viruses. Human "Swine flu" (H1N1/09) is caused by Type A viruses.
Compare the mode of transmission of the common cold with that of malaria?
the common cold is a disease that is only spread to others by direct contact while malaria is the infectious disease that is spread by mosquitos carrying the virus and injecting the host with the bacteria when it bites
Isn't sars' commonly known as the Swine Flu?
No. SARS is severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS pandemic started in China about 2003. Swine Flu is H1N1.http://www.ehow.com/how_4932177_proactive-swine-flu.html Kathy
Bilious fever is an old term no longer commonly used. It was used in the 18th and early 19th centuries by doctors to describe symptoms that included fever with nausea and vomiting.
Horse flu is also known as Equine influenza is a variety of virus that only horses can catch a horse flu is a disease or a sickness
How do you become sick so fast with pandemic H1N1 flu?
All influenza viruses are easily spread by person to person contact, and have relatively short incubation periods before you begin to notice the symptoms. Having the virus on your hands and then touching your face, nose, mouth or eyes can easily transfer the infection. We do this without noticing all day everyday, so it is a hard habit to break. To help, create a new habit of washing your hands more frequently to protect yourself and others. The symptoms of influenza, like the pandemic H1N1 flu, involve the respiratory system where your symptoms are more quickly noticed and your activities can be easily affected by difficulty breathing and coughing.
Where are flu shots given for children?
In young children they are usually given in the large muscle of the lateral thigh. If the child is developed well enough to have good muscle tissue available in the arm, they can get the vaccination in that muscle. The clinician who is giving the flu vaccination will make the decision for the patient at hand on the best site of the injection.
If you get the shot does the shot give you the H1N1 flu?
No. In some cases you are much less likely to.
Scenario #1: You get a flu shot for the seasonal flu. If you are exposed to the A-H1N1/09 Swine Flu at any time before or after the seasonal flu shot, you will be no more or less likely to get A-H1N1/09 than if you hadn't had the shot. You will, however, be much less likely to get the seasonal flu after taking the flu shot, and when full immunity is reached in approximately two weeks after the shot, getting the seasonal flu will be unlikely (but not impossible).
Scenario #2: You get a shot for the seasonal flu. Each year the seasonal flu vaccine is different because it is made to match the three main types of flu that are expected to be going around in that upcoming flu season. There are more H1N1 influenza viruses than the one that causes the 2009 Pandemic Swine Flu. This year's seasonal flu shot (2009) includes a vaccine for one of the other strains of H1N1. The exact strains in the '09 seasonal flu vaccine are:
- A/Brisbane/59/2007(H1N1)-like virus;
- A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus;
- B/Brisbane 60/2008-like antigens.
Scenario #3: You get a shot for the new A-H1N1/09 Pandemic Swine Flu. You will be unlikely to get that exact strain of flu. You will be no more likely to get any of the other H1N1 viruses than you would if you had not had that shot. If you also get the seasonal flu shot you will be less likely to get the Brisbane/59/07/H1N1 virus. And, you just may be less likely to get some of the other kinds of H1N1, too, since the two shots will give you immunity to two different H1N1 viruses which may help you fight off any others that come along (although they may not help).
Bottom line: None of the flu shots will make you more likely to get any kind of flu.
Scenario #4: If you get the nasal spray vaccine for the seasonal flu or for A-H1N1/09 swine flu, there is a chance that you could get flu symptoms of one of the seasonal viruses in the vaccine for regular flu or that you could get H1N1/09 from the swine flu nasal spray vaccine, but only if you have a weak immune system from a disease like HIV/AIDS or other severe disorder of the immune system. It would be a very low chance, but possible, since the vaccine is made from weakened virus particles instead of dead virus particles like are in the shots. These weakened viruses in the vaccine will not make a healthy person get the flu. People with compromised immune systems should avoid contact with others who have used the nasal vaccines as well.
Pregnant women are advised against taking the H1N1/09 nasal spray vaccines until additional human trials in pregnant women are conducted. They can be around someone else who had the nasal spray vaccine, though, and can also administer it to others as well.
You can not use the seasonal flu nasal spray or the H1N1/09 swine flu nasal spray at the same time.
Advantages of having the flu jab?
The flu vaccination should protect you from getting the flu. The flu vaccine is usually 70% effective.
Yes, it's considered a fever when temp is above 37.5. If it gets to over 40 I'd go straight the drs or if it lasts more then 2 days.
Because HIV is a virus, penicillin is not effective in treating it. If you have primary HIV disease with flu-like illness, it is critical that you start antiretroviral therapy. See a health care provider today and make it clear that you are experiencing early HIV symptoms.
How can one determine how long does the flu last?
Determining how long a flu may last anywhere from three days to two weeks. As long as there are symptoms present, the flu is still within your system.
Does pinching your back help a sore throat?
Pinching your back does not help a sore throat. But if it helps, then it is called as 'placebo' effect.
What is a good cough medicine?
Different coughs and different reasons for your cough can make some kinds of cough medicines better than others in treating them. One of the cough medicines that I recommend is guaifenesin. Many over the counter cough preparations are made with this drug that comes from the guaiac tree and was initially discovered and used by Native Americans. Robitussin and products that are generic equivalents contain it and work best for coughs when you need to cough up thick secretions. These kinds of cough medicines are called expectorants and they loosen up the chest congestion to allow you to cough up the sputum (phlegm).
Other types of cough medicines are suppressants. These are used for the kinds of coughs that are dry and hacking and usually caused by irritations instead of accumulations of lung secretions and they work to suppress the cough through different approaches.
The best plan would be to ask the pharmacist at the drug store what products would work best for you after you tell them the symptoms you have.
cough medicine (a medicinal drug used to treat coughing and related conditions) that has the attribute good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Can you catch a cold from being inside the house for days?
Not unless there are cold germs in the house. In most cases, isolating one's self in a house is going to prevent you catching colds, as the virus is passed by contact with other people. However, one will be healthier if you get fresh air and sunshine on a regular basis.
How far did the Hong Kong flu spread?
Answer:
In the late sixties, the Hong Kong flu became a pandemic, meaning that it had spread to most of the world. The dates given for the start of this flu vary, with some giving a starting date of 1967 (the World Health Organization), and others 1968 (which is when it reached the US), and it lasted into 1969.
The first recorded cases were in Hong Kong, which is how the flu got its name. The start date in Hong Kong was July 1968. It began in a very highly populated area (even for Hong Kong), so due to the close person to person contact, it was rapidly spread throughout the city. In only two weeks it had reached epidemic proportions. It then spread quickly into Vietnam and Singapore and by the next month, it was already in the Philippines, India, Australia, and Europe.
As troops from Vietnam came home to the US, they brought the virus with them starting in California, and from there the flu continued to move around the world. It ended in 1969 after also having spread into Japan, Africa, and South America.
More:
This Hong Kong flu pandemic is estimated to have killed one million people worldwide.
Approximately 33,800 of those deaths were in the US. In Hong Kong, the spread was wide and rapid, but like so many first waves of viruses in epidemics, the death toll was not as high there at first. It is estimated that about half a million people there (15% of the population) had the virus, but the death rate was very low.
The new type of virus that caused the Hong Kong flu was H3N2. It has since mutated into multiple strains and many of them continue to be spread today as some of the more common strains making up the seasonal flu each year. The seasonal flu in the US takes the lives of approximately 36,000 people each year.
Is the Tamiflu antivirus medicine free?
That depends on a few factors. What country you are in whether there a national program for dispensing the anti-viral medicine is one factor, some countries are providing this to people through a national program. What insurance coverage, if any, do you have is a factor since some cover preventive medicines and some do not. Is there a drug manufacturer who makes this drug (in brand or in generic form) that has offered it to people with confirmed or probable cases of the Novel H1N1. Check with your health care coverage plan, your doctor, your local public health department, or your national health ministry to find out if it is available to you free or at reduced costs.
Do you catch a cold from getting your head wet?
a wet head means nothing to getting a cold it is just a myth passed down for hundreds of years that only dumb people still believe
Why is it recommended not to get a flu shot when there's a high fever?
the shot is to prevent infection not to treat it
When you're sick with a fever, you may not mount as good of an immune response to the vaccine.
influenza A viruses can trade genetic materials with the viruses of other species. Two different strains trade or merge material, a process known as an antigenic shift.
Can cold germs survive 10 days in a car without people?
Cold germs cannot survive 10 days in a car without people. Cold germs can survive up to 48 hours on surfaces.
elephants do get sick sometimes, like people. If an older elephant or a baby is lagging behind, the others circle it and urge it along to help keep it warm and support it until it is well again. Adult elephants have been seen crushing food in their mouths and allowing young or ailing elephants to remove the food. The food is then collected and chewed.
