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Health & Fitness

Call In Sick Today, It's Probably The Flu

When you're sick and can't get out of bed this blog will help determine if you have a cold or the Flu.

I'm writing this health issue blog from my work desk. As I sit here coughing and sniffling, I hear my co-workers doing the same. We joke about who can cough the loudest or the most, but today I'm not in much of a joking mood. I woke up today with a 50 lb Australian Shepherd jumping on me. If that wasn't a bad enough reason for my foul mood, I also realized I have a cold. I noticed my pillow wet with drool from mouth breathing all night and my nose is stuffy and my throat is scratchy. Then the worst symptom of all, the cough. Once I coughed I knew it was a full fledged cold. You know the cough I'm talking about, it's dry and comes from deep down in your lungs. Should I call in sick today?

I probably should call so I don’t infect my coworkers but I like getting a full paycheck. I’ll just try to avoid everyone today. As far as sick days, who uses those when they're actually sick? I'm kidding (sort of) but I know as the day goes on I will start to feel better. But what if I don't. What if it's the flu?

I know a lot of you wonder the same thing. How can you tell if you have the cold or flu? The answer isn't as easy as you might think. The cold and flu are caused by a virus. The cold is caused from a virus which attacks your cells and continues to grow until your bodies natural defenses take over and eradicate the bug. The flu is the same. It is a virus which contains genetic material. It can't reproduce on it's own. So, like the cold virus, it attacks cells and grows using those cells to grow.

Symptom wise, the cold and flu are very similar. Both last about 7-10 days with the flu possibly hanging on longer and being more severe. The cough, stuffy or runny nose are common in both. Fever is more likely in the flu but a low grade fever may occur with a cold. The flu attacks the respiratory system and the joints. The reason your body aches all over is due to the influenza virus.  Children, more so than adult get an intestinal component causing nausea and vomiting.

So, sitting here at my desk, trying not to get anyone else sick, I am assuming that I have a cold. If this persists for more than a week and a half or gets worse, I will probably get tested for the flu. Most urgent cares, doctor's offices and emergency departments can do this test, in-house. The bottom line, though, is the treatment is the same. Stay hydrated, rest and avoid others until you are better. The rule of thumb is you should return to work or school after you have been fever free for more than 24 hours.

No body likes to get sick but the flu can be very nasty. The flu can cause pandemics and epidemics. The cold does not cause deaths, like the flu does. The CDC reports that from 1979 to 2001 the flu hospitalized 200,000 people and killed an average of 36,00 people. This is old data but the CDC admits that it is difficult to get an accurate number of flu deaths and hospitalizations. It may be that deaths are down. The CDC reports that the 1990's were particularly bad as far as deaths are concerned.

The best way to avoid the flu is to get a flu vaccine. It usually takes as long as six weeks to be in full effect so the earlier in the season you get it the better. You can, however get the flu vaccine anytime between November and March. There is a couple medications on the market that your doctor may prescribe for you early in the disease process. They are Tamaflu and Relenza. These drugs are considered antiviral but they don't cure the flu they just lessen the severity and length of the illness. If I thought I might have the flu, I would call my doctor, explain the symptoms and allow him to decide if a drug like Tamaflu is indicated.

There is no vaccine or antiviral for the common cold. That is because there are hundreds or thousand of cold sub-strains. Doctors and scientist are unable to develop a vaccine to cover all of the strains. The other issue may be that since the cold is not deadly, pharmaceutical companies are in no hurry to cure or prevent it. How many millions or billions of dollars do you think is spent on over-the-counter cold medications? That is not a fact, just me and my conspiracy theory.

You may be asking yourself why your doctor will not prescribe antibiotics for you. You went to see him or her. They examined you, listened to your long list of symptoms and in the end he sent you on your way and told you to stay hydrated and take over the counter meds like Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen for pain or fever. The reason is, antibiotics do not work on viruses, they work on bacterial infections.

One of the ways the flu kills is by causing pneumonia. Pneumonia is a serious bacterial infection which is treated with antibiotics. Your doctor will need a chest x-ray to diagnose pneumonia. Your doctor may, however, give you an antibiotic based on symptoms alone. The only problem with this is that for a century, antibiotics of differing strengths have been used.  Some experts believe antibacterial medications are over used.  Our society is now faced with new strains of bacteria that are resistant to our commonly used antibiotics.

That's my cold and flu blog for the season. Now that I'm finished, maybe I'll try to hide in my cubical, cough and hack on my own stuff and look busy until quitting time.

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