Seasonal Influenza Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention

Seasonal influenza is an aching infection that get to people mostly in Winter and get the patients to be tired all the time coughing as well as sneezing. Moreover in this informative blog post we will tackle what it means to get this seasonal flu and how to get treated as well as preventing it from happening if you did not catch it

Symptoms of the Seasonal influenza 

Seasonal flu is characterized by sudden fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, severe discomfort, sore throat and runny nose. Moreover, this cough can be severe and can last 2 weeks or more. However, Most people can recover from fever and other symptoms within a week without going to the doctor. This seasonal flu can cause serious illness or death, especially in high-risk populations.

Therefore, the disease can range from mild to severe and even death. However, these severe complications and  deaths occur mainly in high-risk populations. Moreover, studies show that worldwide, these annual epidemics are estimated to cause approximately 3 to 5 million severe illnesses and approximately 290,000 to 655,000 respiratory deaths. 

Moreover, these complications are most likely to happen in developed countries, especially deaths.

Treatment of this Epidemic

Patients in non-high-risk groups should receive symptomatic treatment. Moreover, If they got the symptoms, it is recommended to stay at home to minimize the risk of infecting others. Therefore, the main focus of treatment is to reduce flu symptoms such as fever. 

So, patients should undergo self-monitoring to check whether their condition is severe and seek immediate treatment and medications to prevent any further complication. In addition to symptomatic treatment, they should also receive antiviral treatment in order to minimize the risk.

However, if the infection got worsened in patients there are certain medications that should lower the risk a little that they should take such as: 

• Neuraminidase inhibitors (i.e. oseltamivir) should be prescribed as soon as possible (ideally, within 48 hours following symptom onset) to maximize therapeutic benefits. Administration of the drug should also be considered in patients presenting later in the course of illness.
• Treatment is recommended for a minimum of 5 days, but can be extended until there is satisfactory clinical improvement.
• Corticosteroids should not be used routinely,, unless indicated for other reasons (eg: asthma and other specific conditions); as it has been associated with prolonged viral clearance, immunosuppression leading to bacterial or fungal superinfection.
• All currently circulating influenza viruses are resistant to adamantane antiviral drugs (such as amantadine and rimantadine), and these are therefore not recommended for monotherapy.

Prevention of Seasonal influenza 

In order to prevent the disease, you must take vaccinations first and then you should stick to some daily routines in order to be fully protected from getting it. Moreover, World health organization recommends the following people to take annual vaccinations: 

1. pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy
2. children aged between 6 months to 5 years
3. elderly individuals (aged more than 65 years)
4. individuals with chronic medical conditions
5. health-care workers.

They also recommend that we should stick t certain daily routines that will undoubtedly help us in getting the full protection needed to be safe from this epidemic.

Therefore, these routines include:

• Regular hand washing with proper drying of the hands
• Good respiratory hygiene – covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, using tissues and disposing of them correctly
• Early self-isolation of those feeling unwell, feverish and having other symptoms of influenza
• Avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose or mouth