What’s True About the Flu?
Take a look at the influenza virus under a microscope, and you'll see a funny-looking spiked ball, much like the famous Russian satellite Sputnik. But if you've ever been flat on your back with the flu, you know there's nothing funny about this highly contagious virus. Test your savvy by taking this quiz.
1. Stomach flu is the worst kind of flu.
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There's no such thing as stomach flu, says the CDC. The flu is a respiratory illness. Although people frequently use the word flu for any infectious illness they get, flu is a specific type of infection, caused each year by ever-changing, ever-adapting strains of the influenza virus.
2. The CDC recommends that only people 50 and older get the flu vaccine each fall or winter.
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The CDC recommends that all people ages 6 months and older get a flu vaccine.
3. The flu shot can give you the flu.
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A "flu shot" contains dead virus, so you can't get the flu from it. The nasal-spray flu vaccine, approved for people ages 2 to 49, is made with live, weakened flu viruses that can't cause the flu, the CDC says. But side effects from receiving a flu shot include a low-grade fever and aches, and side effects from the nasal vaccine include a runny nose, cough, fever, and a sore throat. Developing side effects such as these after receiving a flu vaccine may lead people to think they have the flu.
4. New medications can help fight the seasonal flu.
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Antiviral drugs can be used as a second line of defense against the flu, the CDC says. They work best when started within two days of becoming sick and help to reduce the severity of symptoms. These drugs can also be used to prevent the flu, but the CDC stresses that the antivirals are not a substitute for the flu vaccine.
5. If you don't touch an infected person, you won't get the flu.
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You catch the flu by coming in contact with droplets of an infected person's cough or sneeze. These droplets can be on objects such as glasses, tissues, or towels. Avoiding people you know are infected will cut your risk, as will frequent hand-washing and not putting your hands near your nose or mouth. But by far, experts say, your best protection is the vaccine.
6. A test can tell your doctor quickly if you have the flu.
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The Rapid Test takes 10 to 30 minutes to show a result. It is less accurate than the viral culture, which takes 48 to 72 hours, past the time necessary for newer drugs to offer relief. A third option, the polymerase chain reaction test, takes only four to six hours, but this test may need to be sent to a lab, delaying when the results are available.
7. If you are 65 or older, you are at higher risk for complications from the flu.
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Nine out of 10 people who die from the flu each year are older adults who develop complications such as pneumonia after they are severely weakened by flu.
8. Symptoms are worse for the flu than a cold.
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The flu begins with a high fever, a nonproductive cough, muscle aches, headache, and fatigue. Generally, you feel like you have been run over by a truck. Most colds don't include high fever or severe headache, muscle aches are milder, and fatigue and weakness from a cold are far less severe than from flu.
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