Dr. Esteban Kosak 
My symptoms of flu can be dangerous?
The flu is a highly contagious disease because of the Influenza virus. It usually hits each year seasonally in the winter months. The aftermath of this infection is a significant economic burden and population distress.
The transmission of the flu occurs through droplets of people that have the virus and are in a contagious phase. The droplets get in contact with healthy people through their mucous membranes. Those are the whole respiratory tract, which includes the nose and throat, or even the eyes of a person. It usually manifests as an illness with an acute onset, including the symptoms of fever, pain, and fatigue. However, they can range from mild to very severe, including death in a vulnerable population.
The severity would depend on the background of the person with the infection. In light of the possible susceptibilities, a person can have a weakened immune system like the elderly. This risk factor, among others, makes some people more than others keener to develop respiratory failure, for example. Therefore, increasing the chances for admission to an intensive care unit. Just in the United States, this infection kills an average of 45,000 people per year. So, indeed, it is a disease that everyone needs to take seriously.
When a patient has mild symptoms, the treatment will focus on reducing them the quickest as possible. Therefore its name is “symptomatic” treatment. Also, some drugs, the antivirals, can fight the virus directly. Nevertheless, these are treatments for moderate to severe cases, or people with a high risk of developing complications. For that, the main objective of the doctor concerning the flu is not the treatment. Instead, it is prevention. A flu vaccine is used every year, covering most of the population in the United States. It aids in reducing the severity of the infections as the studies show.
If you have flu symptoms, and you are doubtful if it is. This tool is a flu symptoms checker that will help you determine how likeliness of it. It is free, and it would only take a few minutes.
- Question of
Are you over 64 years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you work in very-populated environments?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you currently take steroids for another condition?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you suffer from a chronic condition such as diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you suffer from asthma?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do your symptoms started abruptly?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have a dry cough? (A cough with no mucus production, which is persistent and annoying)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have generalized fatigue?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have a fever? (preferably use a thermometer which needs to shows more than 101,3 °F or touch your forehead and determine if the temperature is increased)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have headache?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have pain in your arms and legs?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have sore throat?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you are sneezing very often?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have nausea or vomiting?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been in close contact with people sneezing or coughing in the past seven days?
- Yes
- No
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