The Flu: Me and the Nasty Bug

By Thom Downing

My story began 30 years ago, when I first had the flu. Since then I thought the flu was for only old people and kids. It seems as though a lot of people self-diagnose themselves with the flu when they have a common cold, food poisoning, etc. I guess I was naïve to think I wouldn’t get the flu again. I mean, I am healthy, I wash my hands, get vaccinated. What else can I do to protect myself from “the bug”? This led me to take a closer look at the history of “influenza,” how it is diagnosed and what we can all do to protect ourselves from the bug.

The term influenza has its origins in 15th-century Italy, where the cause of the disease was ascribed to unfavorable astrological influences. Evolution in medical thought led to its modification to Influenza del Freddo, meaning "influence of the cold." The symptoms of human influenza were clearly described by Hippocrates roughly 2400 years ago. Since then, the virus has caused numerous pandemics. The most famous and lethal outbreak was the so-called Spanish flu pandemic which lasted from 1918 to 1919. Older estimates say it killed 40–50 million people while current estimates say 50 to 100 million people worldwide were killed! This pandemic has been described as "the greatest medical holocaust in history" and may have killed as many people as the Black Death. This huge death toll was caused by an extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine storms. Indeed, symptoms in 1918 were so unusual that initially influenza was misdiagnosed as dengue, cholera, or typhoid. One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of the complications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes, especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhages in the skin also occurred." The majority of deaths were from bacterial pneumonia, a secondary infection caused by influenza, but the virus also killed people directly, causing massive hemorrhages and edema in the lungs.

The Spanish flu pandemic was truly global, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. Another unusual feature of this pandemic was that it mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemic influenza deaths occurring in people under age 65, and more than half in young adults 20 to 40 years old. This is unusual since influenza is normally most deadly to the very young (under age 2) and the very old (over age 70). The total mortality of the 1918–1919 pandemic is not known, but it is estimated that 2.5% to 5% of the world's population was killed. As many as 25 million might have been killed in the first 25 weeks. In comparison, HIV/AIDS has killed 25 million in its first 25 years.

Although there were recent scares in New Jersey in 1976 (Swine flu), world wide in 1977 (with the Russian Flu), and in Hong Kong and other Asian countries in 1997 (with H5N1 avian influenza), there have been no major pandemics since the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. Immunity to previous pandemic influenza strains and vaccination might have limited the spread of the virus and helped prevent further pandemics.

I can’t say I was bleeding from my mucus membranes, but I could have been and not cared I was feeling so bad. At 2am on Sunday morning I felt the first symptoms, which came on strong and fast (I later learned this is one of many signs distinguishing the cold from the flu). I woke in a sweat, yet I was shivering uncontrollably. I had severe pain in my low back and legs as well as a headache that put my worst hang over to shame. I could not get warm, but my temperature was 100 degrees – not crazy high, but something bad was definitely going on. I was tired, yet I could not sleep. Finally, I took 10mg of Ambian and knocked myself out. When I woke I felt better, yet extremely fatigued, like I had ran a marathon. The shivering stopped and the pain in the back and legs was minimal. The fatigue kept me functioning at a low level for about 3 hours, so I napped. Up again around 4 pm for about 15mins, then out again. The next four days are a blur. Nighttime was the worst, severe shivering, fever sat between 100 and 102 at its highest. The pain in my back, legs and head was so bad it brought tears to my eyes. As I later learned, these symptoms clearly showed I was dealing with the flu virus. Below is a list of symptoms that distinguish the flu from other viruses.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) lists the following symptoms as indicators you have the flu

* Fever (usually high)
* Headache
* Muscle aches
* Chills
* Extreme tiredness
* Dry cough
* Runny nose may also occur but is more common in children than adults
* Stomach symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, may also occur but are more common in children than adults


The flu and the common cold are both respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have similar flu-like symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.

By the evening of the 6th day, my fever broke. Just as quickly as the symptoms started, they subsided. However, a dry, non-productive cough began in the night. The cough, which was severe at times, lasted for three weeks. So a total of 4 weeks had gone by since the first onset of symptoms to the point of feeling ‘normal’ again!

The CDC and WHO (World Health Organization) have shown that the flu virus spread in tiny droplets caused by coughing and sneezing. They usually spread from person to person via air. Sometimes, however, people become infected by touching something that was recently contaminated with the virus and then touching their mouth or nose. Most adults may be able to infect others beginning one day before they show symptoms and up to five days after becoming sick.

Most organizations suggest getting vaccinated as well as following these simple rules to avoid contamination;

*Wash your hands with soap and water, or alcohol-based gels. *Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
*When you are sick, stay away from others to protect them from getting sick too.
*Stay home when you are sick.
*Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
*Cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze. Use a disposable tissue and throw it away at once. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.