Flu symptoms: Ways of influenza infection and complications:

Influenza is a disease that we have known for millennia, still in seasonal relapses it can quickly cut us off our feet and for a long time exclude us from professional activities. For the first time in the 4th century BC Hippocrates described her. Influenza was struggled in the Middle Ages, and subsequent pandemics, passing through Europe, Asia and America from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, killed the lives of millions of victims. The famous "Spanish" flu, or H1N1 mutation of influenza A virus brought by birds, in two years took a greater harvest than the entire World War I. Today, thanks to the increasingly popular vaccines, we are relatively protected against the outbreak of another pandemic, but this does not change the fact that in the individual sphere, influenza is still one of the most serious viral infectious diseases, mainly affecting the respiratory tract. Unfortunately, we can get the flu many times because the virus is constantly mutating. In addition, our age, previous illnesses and the environment in which we live can increase the risk factors and the occurrence of serious complications.

One of the challenges when controlling periodic flu outbreaks is its high infectivity. By sneezing or coughing, we release viruses into the air, which travel even at a speed of 100 km / h, settling on all objects around the infected. Although the influenza virus can hatch for up to four days, we must remember that it is able to spread successfully even 24 hours before the first symptoms appear. In Poland, the flu season lasts from September to April, and culminates in the period between January and March. Hospitals across the country then register between several hundred thousand and several million flu and flu-like illness.

Symptoms of influenza:
The flu is that it attacks very quickly - often without any transient stages. These, in turn, are characteristic of a cold that is confused with the flu, which, although it has similar symptoms, is a much milder condition in which rhinitis, commonly called a runny nose, often bothers. However, it is not an indispensable element of the flu. However, almost always when undergoing a viral infection of the respiratory system, we will be accompanied by a feeling of chronic fatigue, increased heart rate and shallow breathing. The most severe flu symptoms should stop after about four days. If the discomfort continues, a doctor should be consulted. Here are the most characteristic symptoms of influenza:

- Pain in muscles and joints, which we commonly call "bone breaking".
- Fever, from 38 to even 40 ° C, which usually falls naturally 3-5 days after the first symptoms appear. If the temperature rises again after an initial drop in temperature, this may indicate bacterial superinfection. High temperatures are often accompanied by chills and increased sweating.
A dry and tiring cough associated with a feeling of scratching in the throat. A sore throat may occur later in the disease with mild rhinitis.

- Loss of appetite, which, contrary to appearances, is a beneficial activity of the body, which at the expense of digestion, mobilizes the immune system to intensify the fight against the disease.

- Headache and photophobia, generally reduced reactivity to external stimuli.

Unfortunately, in children and the elderly, suffering from cardiovascular disease, influenza can be much more rapid and its symptoms are more severe. If you experience disorientation, muscle weakness, a marked reduction in urination, low blood pressure, breathing problems and blood spitting - go to the nearest hospital immediately.


The influenza virus has returned cyclically since the dawn of humanity. Due to its easy transfer and constant mutations, despite seasonal hygiene and vaccine use, local seasonal epidemics erupt every year in autumn and early spring. Every few dozen years, however, the threat increases; there are global pandemics, including swine flu A / H1N1v. Because the strain was new, there was no natural resistance of the body to the virus, therefore pandemic flu spreads many times faster than seasonal.

The influenza virus itself is divided into three types, A, B and C, of which humans are mainly infected with the varieties A and B, while C causes only harmless infections. The most common type A, depending on the presence of specific proteins on the surface of the virus, is divided into neuraminidase (N) and hemagglutinin (H) subtypes. Based on them, the most common mutations H3N2, H1N1 and H1N2 are created, which can be vaccinated in advance. The type of influenza B virus is not as dangerous as A because it consists of only one strand of RNA, and therefore has only two HA and NA subtypes and is therefore not as susceptible to mutations.
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