First you need to determine if you have the flu as its symptoms are relatively similar to the ones of a common cold. If you are feeling a brain-mashing headache, together with muscle aches, fatigue, vomiting, sore throat and a fever that makes you shiver and sweat, these are all strong clues that the flu has its hold on you.
How to treat the flu - There are some things you can do to speed up your recovery from the flu
Make sure you give yourself enough time to recover completely, or you could end up with a slower recovery and develop some complications.
Stay home, remain indoors and get a lot of rest. Although it is advised that you stay in bed, some physical exercise such as stretching can help you with your muscle and body aches. But don't overdo it and avoid becoming chilled as this may weaken the body's defense mechanism. It’s best if the treatment is done without leaving the house for a few days. External factors such as cold or bad weather may prolong or even intensify the disease and slow your recovery.
What to eat when you have the flu
You need to keep an effective defense against the influenza virus. Eat vitamin C-rich fresh fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C has excellent antioxidant properties and will help in your effort to recover. Good sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits, strawberries and Brussel sprouts. Eat some lean meats, fish, cereals and whole grain breads to add more zinc to your system.
You could also try eating some starchy foods like bananas, applesauce, dry toast, cottage cheese, baked potatoes, boiled rice, and cooked cereal. When you haven't been eating regularly, starchy foods provide a gentle transition for your digestive system.
Drink plenty of fluids. The body can get dehydrated when you have fever, pushing the fever up even higher. Proper hydration is essential in removing toxins from your body, and the more fluid you drink, the more your tissues are hydrated and the more mucous flows. Water is the main candidate, but sports drinks, fruit juices, and soups can be beneficial as well. Even if you don't feel thirsty, try to drink small amounts of liquids regularly. Don't drink alcohol; they will dehydrate you and can lower your body's defense mechanism to fight the disease and secondary infections.
Apply a heating pad on your body aches.
As a sore throat cure, gargle as needed. Dissolve 1 tsp of salt in 1 pint of warm water. See other alternatives in Natural Flu Remedies.
When to see your doctor
See your Doctor if you are over 65 years of age and have some chronic conditions such as lung disease or heart disease or if you have been vomiting for over a day or have severe abdominal pain.
Some common medicines to fight influenza are Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol), Aspirin and Ibuprofen. Take two tablets every four hours to reduce fever and relieve headache and any muscle aches that the flu virus may cause. However, be careful not to give aspirin to anyone under 21, since research has establish a link between Reye's Syndrome and the use of aspirin. Cough medicine and decongestants will also help with respiratory congestion.
Some prescription medicines include Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), Amantadine, Rimantadine or Zanamivir (Relenza). These drugs are specifically created for preventing and treating the flu. Yet the current flu virus, H3N2 has become progressively resistant to Amantadine and Rimantadine. In 1994 it was concluded that only 1% of the H3N2 cases were resistant to these medications and only 9 years later, by 2005 this resistance ratio was increased to over 90%. There’s no guarantee that these medications will respond in the future as the virus may mutate into a new and improved version of itself, becoming resistant or immune to them. In other words, the best flu medicine this year may be completely inefficient in the next flu season.
You may also want to consider some alternative treatments as well.
Acupressure works by using pressure on a number of points in the body for various flu symptoms. Also, hydrotherapy is a method using water to detoxify the body. The water warms the body and causes you to sweat out harmful toxins. Aromatherapy can be used as a preventive remedy. Protect yourself by applying one drop each of tea tree oil and lemon essential oil in a glass of warm water and gargle. A flu homeopathic remedy may also work. Try Gelsemium if you have a headache and stuffy nose and are feeling weak, tired and chilled. Bryonia will help with general achiness in your muscless and headache; it will also help you if you are thirsty for cold drinks and have a dry cough.
Garlic has antiviral properties and it is a powerful cleanser of the mucous membranes. Chew a clove of garlic as soon as you notice the first flu symptoms.
Another type of flu that we all became recently aware of is the bird flu or avian flu, which symptoms are similar to a regular cold or flu.
Aug 25, 2008
Bird Flu also known as Avian Flu
The bird flu also known as avian flu or avian influenza is a threat that many of us have become aware of with the media warning us that a pandemic may be emerging.
Bird flu is a type A influenza, which is fundamentally a respiratory virus which causes coughing, sore throat, fatigue, fever, muscle aches and congestion. This strain of influenza virus, also known as H5N1 virus appeared in Asia approximately eight years ago affecting particularly their poultry. H5N1 is a classification type of code that refers to the proteins on the surface of the virus.
Throughout history, the flu virus has mutated significantly and developed into different versions of itself. The H1N1 virus was accountable for the Spanish Flu in 1918 which was the deadliest influenza outbreak in history. The number of people killed from the flu outnumbered those who died in battle during all of World War I.
The H2N2 virus was responsible for the Asian Flu in 1957, killing over 1 million people all over the world, with almost 70,000 deaths in the United States.
The H3N2 strain appeared a decade later in Hong Kong in 1968. The Hong Kong flu virus was responsible for over 33,000 deaths in the United States. This is an example of how the virus has mutated and found its way to spread, infect and resist the factors that could obstruct its spread.
The H5N1 virus, a new strain of avian flu appeared in Hong Kong in 1997. Approximately 1.5 million birds were slaughtered in Hong Kong. And because this disease spreads uncontrollably among birds, it was named bird flu. Eighteen cases of human infection were reported at that time, of which six had died. It was reassuring to learn that these victims became infected from direct contact with an infected bird, rather than from an infected person.
The medical and scientific community, begun to treat avian influenza with more interest after the discovery of the H5N1 virus. Until then, the virus would only attack birds at a lower rate and even in those cases where humans became infected, the virus would generate minor effects. Although the chances for humans to contract the H5N1 bird flu are very slim, the H5N1 bird flu is highly dangerous, especially through SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and complicated cases of flu pneumonia.
Birds transmit the virus to each other through their feces, touching one another, sneezing and coughing, but chances are very small for humans to get infected by the virus straight from a bird. In 2004 scientists discovered that ducks were silent carriers of the virus. While ducks were not affected by the virus, they contributed to spread the virus through their feces.
Flu viruses are mutating in small ways all the time. When big changes take place, which are less common, the entire world population would be at great risk leading to a pandemic.
This mutation, known as antigenic shift, happens when different type of viruses mix in a host, be it an animal or human being and exchange their genetic material to create a new virus. When this new virus is virulent, meaning that it can make people sick, and it spreads easily among people, a large population will catch it and become very ill. The rates of sick people and death will be considerably higher than with an ordinary flu. A pandemic is possible but not inevitable.
Based on history and timing alone, the scientific community believes that the world is overdue for another pandemic, whether it is H5N1 or another virus. The frightening factor about this virus begun when suddenly it was transmitted from birds into people resulting in a deadly virus in humans.
Bird flu is a type A influenza, which is fundamentally a respiratory virus which causes coughing, sore throat, fatigue, fever, muscle aches and congestion. This strain of influenza virus, also known as H5N1 virus appeared in Asia approximately eight years ago affecting particularly their poultry. H5N1 is a classification type of code that refers to the proteins on the surface of the virus.
Throughout history, the flu virus has mutated significantly and developed into different versions of itself. The H1N1 virus was accountable for the Spanish Flu in 1918 which was the deadliest influenza outbreak in history. The number of people killed from the flu outnumbered those who died in battle during all of World War I.
The H2N2 virus was responsible for the Asian Flu in 1957, killing over 1 million people all over the world, with almost 70,000 deaths in the United States.
The H3N2 strain appeared a decade later in Hong Kong in 1968. The Hong Kong flu virus was responsible for over 33,000 deaths in the United States. This is an example of how the virus has mutated and found its way to spread, infect and resist the factors that could obstruct its spread.
The H5N1 virus, a new strain of avian flu appeared in Hong Kong in 1997. Approximately 1.5 million birds were slaughtered in Hong Kong. And because this disease spreads uncontrollably among birds, it was named bird flu. Eighteen cases of human infection were reported at that time, of which six had died. It was reassuring to learn that these victims became infected from direct contact with an infected bird, rather than from an infected person.
The medical and scientific community, begun to treat avian influenza with more interest after the discovery of the H5N1 virus. Until then, the virus would only attack birds at a lower rate and even in those cases where humans became infected, the virus would generate minor effects. Although the chances for humans to contract the H5N1 bird flu are very slim, the H5N1 bird flu is highly dangerous, especially through SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and complicated cases of flu pneumonia.
Birds transmit the virus to each other through their feces, touching one another, sneezing and coughing, but chances are very small for humans to get infected by the virus straight from a bird. In 2004 scientists discovered that ducks were silent carriers of the virus. While ducks were not affected by the virus, they contributed to spread the virus through their feces.
Flu viruses are mutating in small ways all the time. When big changes take place, which are less common, the entire world population would be at great risk leading to a pandemic.
This mutation, known as antigenic shift, happens when different type of viruses mix in a host, be it an animal or human being and exchange their genetic material to create a new virus. When this new virus is virulent, meaning that it can make people sick, and it spreads easily among people, a large population will catch it and become very ill. The rates of sick people and death will be considerably higher than with an ordinary flu. A pandemic is possible but not inevitable.
Based on history and timing alone, the scientific community believes that the world is overdue for another pandemic, whether it is H5N1 or another virus. The frightening factor about this virus begun when suddenly it was transmitted from birds into people resulting in a deadly virus in humans.
A Cold or The Flu (Influenza)?
First, we need to mention that the influenza and the common cold are both contagious viral infections of the respiratory tract, and they come from different viral families. The flu viruses form a category of its own (the Orthomyxoviridae family), common cold can be caused by up to four hundred viruses. Unfortunately, there is no absolute cure for any of them and checking and determining which virus is causing your cold, will not be advantageous in helping you recover any faster.
While the symptoms are very similar, influenza is more severe. Sore throat, congestion, runny nose and sneezing are common with colds and both diseases bring coughing, headache and chest discomfort. The symptoms of flu tend to cause one to have more symptoms of fever, aching of the body, and dry coughing than the common cold.
Complications from colds usually present a much less serious threat to one's health, as the flu can lead to other problems such as pneumonia and sinus infections, while those with the cold rarely have to make a trip to the hospital. Colds primarily cause problems in the head alone, and many call them head colds as most of the symptoms exist purely from the neck-up. Influenza, on the other hand, affects the whole body and can be quite threatening to ones health, especially those who are very young or very old.
The viruses that cause the illnesses are very different, but they do result in many of the same symptoms. For this reason, many people have trouble telling the two apart by symptoms alone. For example, both cases of flu and common cold may very well start with afflictions of the upper respiratory system (mainly the nose and throat) such as constant sneezing, nasal congestion, sore and dry throat (or phlegmy throat in some cases) and coughing. In addition, both diseases can cause mild headaches, fevers, muscle soreness and a general state of weakness and nausea, although these symptoms are more severe in flu cases.
They spread in much the same way, with the affected individuals coughing or sneezing and releasing more of the virus particles into the air for others to fall victim to. However some studies have found that the beads of moisture in which the germs are expelled during coughing and sneezing, generally they fall to the ground unless immediately inhaled, discovering that a much higher number of infection causing microbes are present on the hands of people suffering from these illnesses than in the air into which they have been coughing or sneezing.
Generally, colds are very contagious especially in young children. As adults, our tendency to catch a cold decreases possibly due to some developed immunity. Cold symptoms settle in between one and four days after the getting infected by the cold virus. During he first three days we feel the symptoms, we are the most contagious.
Usually, the flu virus symptoms will roughly manifest 24-48 hours after the virus has infected the body, whereas common cold viruses are triggered slower. This means that it’s a lot easier to prevent a case of common cold than one of flu, stopping the viruses from their roots before spreading and making the situation worse.
One thing that the two illnesses have in common is the fact that we do not yet have a cure for them. However, there are vaccines that are available that can make you immune to the new strains of the flu that come around from year to year. For that reason, the flu is much more preventable than the common cold. While instances of the common cold may appear at random, the flu tends to strike seasonally, with most becoming affected in the middle of winter.
The flu is highly contagious and within two to three weeks, it will have travelled amongst the people that you surround yourself with, with schools and the workplace being particularly troublesome when it comes to catching the illness. The flu also tends to last a little longer than the common cold, with people often getting over the cold within a week whereas the flu can stick around for up to two weeks.
If left untreated, both diseases can cause complications, but the flu is by far the worse. Flu cases can easily lead to death if not treated, since the virus is a lot more powerful and it is also more adaptable to avoiding medication and to countering the infected person’s immune system (actually, the flu virus is known to be one of the most "instinctive" and adaptable viruses of all time, since it constantly mutates into newer, better versions).
A case of flu can become deadly in many ways, either through high fever, reducing the immune system to a point where the body is easily afflicted by numerous other diseases, but most commonly, flu is deadly by causing an acute respiratory deficiency. On the other hand, it’s relatively hard for a common cold to become lethal. Even if left untreated by modern medication, a common cold can be naturally healed. And while the cold itself will almost never be the cause of death, the complications it can produce, such as pneumonia for example, may very well do so.
When it comes to keeping the illnesses at bay, your best bet is to exercise caution when it comes to being sanitary. When flu season strikes or someone around you has a cold, be sure to wash your hands often.
Also, if you are a smoker, you may want to avoid the habit for a few days as it can prove to have a negative effect on your body’s ability to prevent respiratory illnesses.
Adequate rest is very important for both the flu and the common cold. Drinking plenty of water is also very important as moist tissues are harder for a virus to infect than dry tissues.
While the symptoms are very similar, influenza is more severe. Sore throat, congestion, runny nose and sneezing are common with colds and both diseases bring coughing, headache and chest discomfort. The symptoms of flu tend to cause one to have more symptoms of fever, aching of the body, and dry coughing than the common cold.
Complications from colds usually present a much less serious threat to one's health, as the flu can lead to other problems such as pneumonia and sinus infections, while those with the cold rarely have to make a trip to the hospital. Colds primarily cause problems in the head alone, and many call them head colds as most of the symptoms exist purely from the neck-up. Influenza, on the other hand, affects the whole body and can be quite threatening to ones health, especially those who are very young or very old.
The viruses that cause the illnesses are very different, but they do result in many of the same symptoms. For this reason, many people have trouble telling the two apart by symptoms alone. For example, both cases of flu and common cold may very well start with afflictions of the upper respiratory system (mainly the nose and throat) such as constant sneezing, nasal congestion, sore and dry throat (or phlegmy throat in some cases) and coughing. In addition, both diseases can cause mild headaches, fevers, muscle soreness and a general state of weakness and nausea, although these symptoms are more severe in flu cases.
They spread in much the same way, with the affected individuals coughing or sneezing and releasing more of the virus particles into the air for others to fall victim to. However some studies have found that the beads of moisture in which the germs are expelled during coughing and sneezing, generally they fall to the ground unless immediately inhaled, discovering that a much higher number of infection causing microbes are present on the hands of people suffering from these illnesses than in the air into which they have been coughing or sneezing.
Generally, colds are very contagious especially in young children. As adults, our tendency to catch a cold decreases possibly due to some developed immunity. Cold symptoms settle in between one and four days after the getting infected by the cold virus. During he first three days we feel the symptoms, we are the most contagious.
Usually, the flu virus symptoms will roughly manifest 24-48 hours after the virus has infected the body, whereas common cold viruses are triggered slower. This means that it’s a lot easier to prevent a case of common cold than one of flu, stopping the viruses from their roots before spreading and making the situation worse.
One thing that the two illnesses have in common is the fact that we do not yet have a cure for them. However, there are vaccines that are available that can make you immune to the new strains of the flu that come around from year to year. For that reason, the flu is much more preventable than the common cold. While instances of the common cold may appear at random, the flu tends to strike seasonally, with most becoming affected in the middle of winter.
The flu is highly contagious and within two to three weeks, it will have travelled amongst the people that you surround yourself with, with schools and the workplace being particularly troublesome when it comes to catching the illness. The flu also tends to last a little longer than the common cold, with people often getting over the cold within a week whereas the flu can stick around for up to two weeks.
If left untreated, both diseases can cause complications, but the flu is by far the worse. Flu cases can easily lead to death if not treated, since the virus is a lot more powerful and it is also more adaptable to avoiding medication and to countering the infected person’s immune system (actually, the flu virus is known to be one of the most "instinctive" and adaptable viruses of all time, since it constantly mutates into newer, better versions).
A case of flu can become deadly in many ways, either through high fever, reducing the immune system to a point where the body is easily afflicted by numerous other diseases, but most commonly, flu is deadly by causing an acute respiratory deficiency. On the other hand, it’s relatively hard for a common cold to become lethal. Even if left untreated by modern medication, a common cold can be naturally healed. And while the cold itself will almost never be the cause of death, the complications it can produce, such as pneumonia for example, may very well do so.
When it comes to keeping the illnesses at bay, your best bet is to exercise caution when it comes to being sanitary. When flu season strikes or someone around you has a cold, be sure to wash your hands often.
Also, if you are a smoker, you may want to avoid the habit for a few days as it can prove to have a negative effect on your body’s ability to prevent respiratory illnesses.
Adequate rest is very important for both the flu and the common cold. Drinking plenty of water is also very important as moist tissues are harder for a virus to infect than dry tissues.
Flu Prevention
Typical of the flu is its rapidity to disseminate and the high degree of contagiousness under ideal circumstances. Besides, the flu viruses mutate from year to year. Every year there is a new type of flu strain that is dominant, what this means is that you can never develop a permanent immunity to influenza. Preventing the flu can be very difficult and it is important for you to know the basics of the flu and how it spreads to prevent it as much as you can. A healthy immune system is the key to protect yourself against repetitive colds.
In this article, we’ll offer some tips that can help to keep you safe from the flu when the season strikes.
Seasons:
The flu occurs at different times throughout the world, with a pronounced tendency to hit the hardest during the winter months. Why? Some scientists feel that since everyone tends to stay inside during the wintertime, our quarters are more confined and the illness has a chance to spread more effectively. Others feel that the cold weather can prove to be an efficient breeding ground for the virus, and it may allow the virus to live longer and possess a greater chance of infecting another person.
How is the influenza virus transmitted?
*
By inhaling the air that contains the virus. Sneezes and coughs can send flu particles flying through the air as far as three feet, causing more and more people to fall victim to the virus. It’s also important to remain very hygienic when flu season is about, making sure to wash your hands regularly.
*
By touching contaminated items. Doorknobs, keyboards, and other common shared areas can be host to the flu virus. Do your best to avoid touching your eyes, nose, or your mouth before you wash your hands, as you can come down with the flu through this manner.
What can you do?
*
Make sure to avoid close contact with any co-workers who may be sick. But it is also very important to remember that the flu can spread a day before someone even experiences any symptoms, and it can still spread up to five days after all the symptoms have disappeared. For this reason, minimize unnecesary close contact with people and crowded places.
*
Wash your hands regularly, as common areas such as the workplace or school are often breeding grounds for the flu virus. If you’ve come down with the flue, be sure to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough as to prevent further infections from the virus. Also, be sure to throw away used tissues immediately and after you are done having the flu, change your bed linens.
*
Keep your immune system as strong as possible to minimize the chance of getting the flu but also because the immune system is responsible for eliminating the flu virus. Be sure to get enough sleep, and eat a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables. Some people find that supplements such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E are helpful when it comes to boosting immune response. If you live somewhere where a flu outbreak has taken place, you may want to ask your doctor about preventative antiviral medications that can help to keep you safe from the sickness.
*
Many opt for a flu vaccine, however vaccines aren’t a surefire method of preventing the disease They change from year to year as different strains of the virus spread, so it’s important to get one a month or two before flu season begins in order to reap the benefits. For those who are fearful of injections, they’ve recently introduced a nasal spray vaccine which can provide the same efficiency when it comes to preventing the flu. If a flu outbreak has recently occurred in your office and you are afraid of falling victim, you may want to speak to your doctor in order to get an antiviral compound such as Tamiflu which can help you to avoid coming down with the illness.
If you already have the flu, try some natural flu home remedies to help you cope it a little easier. If you are a diabetic or suffer from another chronic disease, talk to you doctor about how to get immunized before the flu season starts. Elderly people above 65 should also consult with their doctor to get some advice.
ComfiCoff is 100% safe and natural, complex remedy containing both herbal and homeopathic ingredients. These ingredients are combined in therapeutic dosages to provide rapid and effective relief of congestion and phlegm.
In this article, we’ll offer some tips that can help to keep you safe from the flu when the season strikes.
Seasons:
The flu occurs at different times throughout the world, with a pronounced tendency to hit the hardest during the winter months. Why? Some scientists feel that since everyone tends to stay inside during the wintertime, our quarters are more confined and the illness has a chance to spread more effectively. Others feel that the cold weather can prove to be an efficient breeding ground for the virus, and it may allow the virus to live longer and possess a greater chance of infecting another person.
How is the influenza virus transmitted?
*
By inhaling the air that contains the virus. Sneezes and coughs can send flu particles flying through the air as far as three feet, causing more and more people to fall victim to the virus. It’s also important to remain very hygienic when flu season is about, making sure to wash your hands regularly.
*
By touching contaminated items. Doorknobs, keyboards, and other common shared areas can be host to the flu virus. Do your best to avoid touching your eyes, nose, or your mouth before you wash your hands, as you can come down with the flu through this manner.
What can you do?
*
Make sure to avoid close contact with any co-workers who may be sick. But it is also very important to remember that the flu can spread a day before someone even experiences any symptoms, and it can still spread up to five days after all the symptoms have disappeared. For this reason, minimize unnecesary close contact with people and crowded places.
*
Wash your hands regularly, as common areas such as the workplace or school are often breeding grounds for the flu virus. If you’ve come down with the flue, be sure to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough as to prevent further infections from the virus. Also, be sure to throw away used tissues immediately and after you are done having the flu, change your bed linens.
*
Keep your immune system as strong as possible to minimize the chance of getting the flu but also because the immune system is responsible for eliminating the flu virus. Be sure to get enough sleep, and eat a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables. Some people find that supplements such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E are helpful when it comes to boosting immune response. If you live somewhere where a flu outbreak has taken place, you may want to ask your doctor about preventative antiviral medications that can help to keep you safe from the sickness.
*
Many opt for a flu vaccine, however vaccines aren’t a surefire method of preventing the disease They change from year to year as different strains of the virus spread, so it’s important to get one a month or two before flu season begins in order to reap the benefits. For those who are fearful of injections, they’ve recently introduced a nasal spray vaccine which can provide the same efficiency when it comes to preventing the flu. If a flu outbreak has recently occurred in your office and you are afraid of falling victim, you may want to speak to your doctor in order to get an antiviral compound such as Tamiflu which can help you to avoid coming down with the illness.
If you already have the flu, try some natural flu home remedies to help you cope it a little easier. If you are a diabetic or suffer from another chronic disease, talk to you doctor about how to get immunized before the flu season starts. Elderly people above 65 should also consult with their doctor to get some advice.
ComfiCoff is 100% safe and natural, complex remedy containing both herbal and homeopathic ingredients. These ingredients are combined in therapeutic dosages to provide rapid and effective relief of congestion and phlegm.
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