Influenza
Treatment Overview
In most healthy people,
influenza
(flu) will go away in 5 to 7 days. The worst
symptoms usually last 3 to 4 days. Home treatment to ease symptoms and prevent
complications is usually all that is needed.
Antiviral medicines
can be taken to:
- Reduce the severity and duration of symptoms
caused by infection with influenza A or B virus.
- Shorten the length
of the illness.
- Control outbreaks of the flu in nursing
homes.
- Reduce the spread of the virus to people at high risk for
severe
complications of the flu (high-risk groups).
- Reduce complications from the flu.
People at high risk of complications are encouraged to
contact a doctor within 48 hours of their first symptoms to find out whether
they need medicine to shorten the illness. They also should call a doctor to
receive medicine if they have been exposed to the flu. For more information,
see:
-
Should I take antiviral medicine for the flu?
If medicines are not used, contact your doctor if symptoms
of a complication develop.
What To Think About
Yearly immunization with
the
inactivated influenza vaccine
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(flu shot) or the
nasal spray flu vaccine
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(FluMist) prevents flu infection and its complications in
most people. FluMist is approved for use by healthy people who are 2 to 49
years old. You should not use FluMist if you:
- Have heart disease.
- Have lung
disease, including
asthma
.
- Have
diabetes
or kidney disease.
- Have a disease
or take a medicine that causes problems with your
immune system
.
- Have had
Guillain-Barré syndrome
.
- Are
pregnant.
- Have ever had an allergic reaction to FluMist or to
eggs.
- Are younger than age 20 and you take aspirin or products with
aspirin in them.
The yearly immunization rate is typically low for people
younger than 65 who are at high risk of developing the flu. All people in
high-risk groups and those who could transmit the virus to them because of
regular contact are strongly encouraged to get the flu shot.
Almost every community has a program that offers flu shots at low cost
during the months of October and November. You also can get a flu shot during a
routine visit to a doctor during the same months. Many health clinics have set
hours during October and November for people to get flu shots without needing
to make an appointment.
To help you decide if the flu shot is
right for you, see:
-
Should I get a flu shot?
Although antiviral medicines sometimes prevent the flu,
they do not work in the same way as a yearly immunization and should not
replace a flu shot or dose of FluMist.
Last Updated:July 31, 2008
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008).
Prevention and control of influenza: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR, 57(RR-7): 1–60.
Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5707.pdf.
Jefferson T (2007). Influenza, search date April 2007.
Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence. Also available
online: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.
Nichol KL, et al. (2007). Effectiveness of influenza
vaccine in the community-dwelling elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(14): 1373–1381.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006). CDC Health Alert: CDC Recommends Against the Use of Amantadine and Rimantadine for the Treatment or Prophylaxis of Influenza in the United States During the 2005–06 Influenza Season. Available online:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/han011406.htm.
Cooper NJ, et al. (2003). Effectiveness of
neuraminidase inhibitors in treatment and prevention of influenza A and B:
Systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials.
BMJ, 326(7401): 1235.
