INFLUENZA: WHEN TO WORRY

Winter is the boom time for flu and flu-like syndromes. Most people become ill at some point during this time, and symptoms differ greatly from one individual to another.

They range from a cold and a general malaise to widespread body aches and joints, often there is sore throat, headache, earache, cough, fever.. But when to worry?

The flu breaks out on the first-second day with often high fever, sore throat, rhinitis, cough. The fever may remain high for three or four days and decrease by the fourth or fifth day.

The cough along with other symptoms tends to subside in four to five days. There is cause for concern and call your doctor if your fever remains 39°C or higher on the third or fourth day, or if your cough and sore throat do not subside after four days. There is something to worry about especially if the fever increases as the days go by, if the cough gets worse, if the throat is swollen.

FLU OR BACTERIAL INFLUENCE

Sore throat most likely starts as a viral form, but over the course of days bacteria can take over and a form that started out as a viral one can continue as a bacterial one.

Sore throats can already start as a bacterial form. In this case one must always be suspicious sore throat. In pharyngotonsillitis, therefore, streptococcus is always to be considered as a cause, especially in case of high fever, deterioration of general condition, swelling of the tonsils-pharynx, perhaps with plaques; in this case it is necessary to evaluate an antibiotic therapy.

In case of a sore throat with swollen tonsils and/or plaques, always consult a doctor. The flu can also trigger other types of bacterial infections. Of particular importance are sinusitis, otitis media, bronchitis, bronchopneumonia, pneumonia.

The bacterial complications appear a few days after the start of the flu and it happens that instead of lowering the fever towards the fourth day as normally happens in the flu, there is instead a worsening of the clinical picture.

The fever may tend to increase, the cough to increase, the excreted mucus is no longer white-yellowish-transparent but dark yellow, orange, green, gray. Here you need antibiotic therapy and you need to contact your doctor.