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How do you recognize the difference between cold and flu?
The flu epidemic 2016 is in full swing. Many people are currently suffering from fever, sore throats, headaches and body aches. Not always there is a flu behind it. In many cases, the symptoms are triggered by a simple cold.
Typical flu this season
Although the flu is currently spreading in Germany, it is still at a relatively moderate level. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) received 3,081 confirmed influenza cases in the previous week. It is said that the number of cases in one week has risen above the 3,000 mark for the first time since the beginning of the year. According to the RKI, 13,290 influenza cases nationwide have been reported since the beginning of the season at the beginning of October. The course was so far typical, as a spokeswoman explained. The order of magnitude is also in comparison to other years in the frame. However, the eastern part of Germany is relatively badly affected this season.
Is it just a harmless cold or the flu? (Image: Monkey Business / fotolia.com) More swine flu cases this year
According to initial findings, many healthy adults with severe influenza are infected this season. Reason for the fact that there are many more swine flu cases than in the previous year, according to the RKI probably the current dominance of only since 2009 circulating virus A (H1N1) pdm09. The H1N1 virus is better known to many as swine flu. Even in younger adults and people without chronic pre-existing illness, it seems to cause more severe disease courses than the A (H3N2) virus, which was widespread in the previous year. Most recently, international reports of severe cases of influenza in intensive care units have been reported, as RKI flu expert Silke Buda recently announced. In more specific cases, it was mainly the H1N1 virus. Basically, the viruses change genetically from season to season. The course of the flu epidemic is not foreseeable according to the RKI. It usually takes three to four months on average.
Indicate symptoms of a cold or flu?
But how can you actually tell if you have influenza or if the symptoms are possibly symptoms of a cold? The question flu or influenza infection is usually easy to answer. In a message from the dpa news agency, the infectiologist Peter Walger from the Berufsverband Deutscher Internisten explains the difference - and when those affected should go to the doctor.
A few days bed rest
A real virus-induced flu occurs quite suddenly. "You usually feel healthy in the morning and suddenly have 39 or 40 degrees fever in the evening," explains Walger. Symptoms such as headache, limb and bone pain, as well as coughing and runny nose usually occur. The affected people usually feel very ill. Very important for the self-treatment of flu and colds is to drink a lot. "In case of fever, the body can quickly lose an additional two liters of fluid." You should also take care and spend a few days in bed. Although some patients rely on antipyretic drugs and painkillers, but Walger advises of combination preparations: "In this mix are important and unimportant single active ingredients in there, a correct dosage is impossible."
When you catch a cold, you are not seriously ill
A flu infection, the "simple" cold can be caught several times a year. She too is a viral infection. Symptoms such as runny nose, sore throat, headache, and also body aches start slowly and fade away after a few days. "A cold affects the condition, but you are not seriously ill," says Walger. Those affected usually have no fever and do not have to go to the doctor. In most cases, it is not recommended to take any medication. In case of mild discomfort, home remedies for colds can often provide relief quickly.
Seniors and small children with fever to the doctor
If older people have a high fever, they should go to the doctor sooner. This also applies to people with a basic illness such as heart or lung diseases. In addition, parents with small children should consult a physician suspected flu. In children with fever, the question of when to the doctor, depending on the age answered. Health experts recommend that you go to the doctor for babies under three months of age from a body temperature of 38 degrees. Children between half and two years of age with elevated temperature for more than one day should also be taken to the pediatrician. Who does not fall into any of these groups, but has a typical flu with a distinct malady and additional symptoms such as shortness of breath, circulatory disorders or dizziness, should necessarily go to the doctor, according to Walger.
Antibiotics do not make sense
In addition, people who had a cold or less severe flu first, but then get a new boost after three to four days, also in the hands of a doctor. Behind it can namely put a pneumonia. Although there are special anti-viral drugs against influenza. "But they are relatively weak," says Walger. For this reason, physicians usually prescribe rather preparations for the individual symptoms. "Antibiotics make no sense in colds or flu, they do not work against viruses." Here is at most an exception, if those affected in addition to the viruses have caught a bacterial infection. (Ad)