With over 1 million cases in the week from 25 to 31 December and over 6.7 million since the start of surveillance, the flu is moving towards its seasonal peak with its load of colds, fever, aches and pains of various types. But how does the flu start? And how long does it last? How is it prevented? And how is it treated? These questions are answered by immunologist Mauro Minelli, responsible for the South of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine. How long does it usually take between the moment the virus was transmitted to me and the moment the disease manifests itself? “It's called 'incubation time'. For influenza its average duration is two days and it is the time that passes between the moment of the appearance of the first symptoms and the previous moment of contagion generally caused by droplets of saliva that the subject contagious can spread into the environment with sneezing, coughing, but also through close human-to-human contact”, replies the immunologist.
“Given the very recent memory of recommendations which, in this sense, have been administered in abundance, I do not think it is appropriate to add others, although I would like to say that, if not the mask (which however in certain cases cannot be excluded) at least the good habit of sneezing into your elbow or covering your mouth with your hand – warns Minelli – when you have to cough, can always constitute anything but formal behavior of respect and good manners”.
Symptoms
How do I recognize the flu? What are your most characteristic symptoms this year? “Chills and fever that increases suddenly, reaching even above 39°C. Sore throat and dysphonia, with hoarse voice and possible impediment in swallowing – continues Minelli – Assorted joint and muscle pain, widespread practically everywhere. Disabling exhaustion , such that you feel powerless. Dry, barking cough, sometimes suffocating, with annoying itching between the throat and nose that drips like a tap. Burning eyes and watery eyes. Headache associated with light-headedness, disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, mood disorders. Intestinal discomfort with nausea, digestive disorders, frequently abdominal cramps, diarrhea, hemorrhoids”.
How long does the discomfort last?
“Generally the acute manifestation of the flu is self-limiting, in the sense that it goes away on its own within a few days (on average less than a week), if anything leaving after-effects such as coughs of varying intensity and a feeling of precarious physical fitness, which also persist for a few weeks – recalls Minelli – However, the resolution times of the respiratory infection caused by the flu syndrome are susceptible to wide fluctuations depending not only on the type of agents responsible for the infection, but also and above all on the age of the affected person, on his overall health conditions, the levels of efficiency of his immune system and, therefore, the ability of the latter to carry out, if adequately trained, an effective protective action. It is depending on these factors that a case of flu can go unnoticed in the absence of appreciable symptoms, it can manifest itself with its classic symptomatic procession, or it can cause complications of varying severity”.
But are these paintings really attributable only to the influence? “No, because it could also be other syndromes, typical of the cold season and caused by a set of respiratory viruses called 'parainfluenza', or a combination between the latter and influenza viruses – observes the immunologist – Both one and the other the others, during the winter season, can find fertile ground in humans due to a lower efficiency of the immune system linked to low temperatures which can also lead to a lower effectiveness of the mucociliary apparatus, one of the most powerful defense mechanisms that our respiratory tree has equipped itself with to protect itself. Another favorable element may be the greater promiscuity linked to the concentration of many people in confined and inadequately ventilated environments”.
Possible complications
And the complications? “The most frequent ones are represented by pneumonia, ear infections, rhino-sinusitis or, in any case, from a worsening of pre-existing clinical pictures – he replies – These are eventualities that can be more immediately correlated to the progressive weakening of the immune system which physiologically accompanies ageing. Therefore, as age progresses, the probability of complications increases which become even more fearful in conjunction with chronic pathologies affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal or nervous systems. If the seasonal respiratory infection takes you by surprise, the only credible resource remains elective drug therapy. But, obviously, much more convenient and safe would be to nip the risk in the bud, removing the problem at its source with an appropriate flu vaccination.”
“And so, putting on one side of the scale the statistically minimal risks connected to flu vaccines and, on the other side, the risk of contracting the disease, especially if not very young and perhaps suffering from another chronic pathology, I would choose to get vaccinated – suggests the immunologist – True, I would not have absolute certainties of not contracting the flu or of not having any adverse effects, but I would certainly act on the basis of rational and scientifically based motivations, and not of prejudices”.
Treatment
What is the best therapy to treat the flu? “I would put us first the patience, to be professed with conviction. They follow liquids, to be taken in abundance to promote adequate hydration. Symptomatic drugs of the anti-inflammatory / anti-fever type can be used to alleviate headaches, joint pain and general malaise”, he recalls.
“To the inevitable request to immediately take an antibiotic, we will reply, as always, that antibiotics do not cure the flu. If anything, we will be able to give them to the subjects most at risk to prevent any bacterial superinfections, if anything after having consulted a doctor and in any case only if the symptoms of the flu do not go away with the most basic self-medication, or in cases where after an apparent recovery, a return of fever and productive cough should occur. Regarding the latter, a small note should be added: when setting up the therapy, let's not base ourselves on the greater or lesser consistency and density of the phlegm that is eventually coughed up – he warns -. The greater intensity of yellow in the color of the secretions does not equate to the greater severity of the infections, but rather to the evolution of an inflammatory state which can also result from a viral infection. I mean that there is no concept of 'the yellower the mucus, the more I need the antibiotic to counteract the bacterial infection', because yellow mucus can also be the consequence of an infection produced by a virus on which the antibiotic It will never have any effect anyway.”
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