Can we please stop spreading the same tired old myths about flu?

[AutisticAndMore]

The ones about not being able to get out of bed if there was a £50 note on the floor and talk of “real flu”.

Flu can be asymptomatic, mild, moderate or severe. It’s still “real flu” regardless of severity.

It’s a tiresome and potentially dangerous myth that it always has to be severe. And no you might not know for definite that you have flu unless you test for it/are tested but you don’t have to be confined to your bed to have flu.

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/yahoo-life-why-does-the-flu-make-some-people-sick-but-not-others

But by that logic we should be regularly testing for flu if seeing vulnerable people or visiting hospitals as 25% of cases are asymptomatic.

And aren’t most vulnerable people vaccinated against flu?

I’m not sure I understand the point of your thread?

It isn’t about taking every possible measure. There are limits to what is feasible. Taking daily tests when you have no symptoms isn’t really reasonable or practical in many situations or necessary if you aren’t visiting every day. You are very limited in what you can do about asymptomatic transmission but you can avoid visits when you have what you think/may be mild/moderate cold symptoms hence the health board’s request. And you may avoid unnecessary visits to vulnerable people when you think you have a cold but many don’t. And even if they are vaccinated they can still get the flu. This year’s vaccines are not as efficient for this year’s strains as hoped but it’s still very much worth getting.

Though if you so wish you can indeed get some tests if you know someone who is especially vulnerable and feel more comfortable testing on the day of the visit.

I’m also trying to save my sanity because I’m tired of seeing the same myths repeated numerous times during flu season. I can’t say that I understand people wanting to perpetuate myths and live in ignorance. I’d rather know the facts even if I don’t think it terribly relevant to my particular situation.

YANBU.

I tend to say ‘I’ve never had flu’ but I should probably say ‘I’ve never been ill with the flu’. Perhaps I’ve had it once or twice or multiple times but I’d have no way of knowing. I do know that I’ve never had a virus that has knocked me off my feet. I assume I get lots of colds too, but they just don’t give me many symptoms. At worst, once or twice a year I get a very runny nose and lots of sneezing. I assume that is a cold, and maybe I get other colds too that are asymptomatic.

Surely this thread would be more effective in achieving the aim of keeping medically vulnerable people safe if it had instead requested: 'don't visit medically vulnerable people if you have any kind of contagious bug or virus'.

And I'm pretty sure most people follow this advice already anyway.

Sorry…I put YANBU and then realised we’re not in AIBU.

Plenty don’t as many of the covid threads revealed, and has my life experience has shown and if the vulnerable person is fine with that then that’s between you and them but if they are not and would be anxious about it then perhaps you should postpone the visit until you are no longer ill.

Besides again I strongly dislike people spreading myths in any form. They are anything but helpful.

This is interesting because I thought Flu really knocked you firv6,I've had it really bad a couple of times and was bed bound was hellish.
However after experiencing covid I guess its true that some people could be carriers and be asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms but the truth is we never really know what it is unless you can get tested.
But there is a world of difference between mild virus symptoms and one that knocks you out for at least a couple of weeks.
I usually class flu as being bed bound and really feeling at deaths door, sickness,diarrhoea,body aches,shivers,temperature,sore throat, dizziness,like gastroenteritis and a cold from hell combined with a few extra bits thrown in!
Anything milder I call a cold or virus

Flu can knock you out - you can get tests now like Covid and we have all been tested and we all have flu. 1 really affected, 1 badly affected, one middle and DH just symptoms of a bad cold.

all four of us are different were it not that it is epidemic right now and DS really was very ill (8 days off school ill) not sure we would have realised

flu is currently rife

Exactly! I had a nasty cold at the weekend - who knows if it was Covid, flu or a cold? We were due to visit dh’s 91 year old step grandma, but obviously didn’t go as I didn’t want to infect her.

But three times in your life you had flu that bad, and other times you had milder cases of flu which you thought were a bad cold, or a vague virus.

Is there a flu test, like the covid test nowadays?

Does it really matter OP?

I have a friend who has:

• infected me with swine flu
• infected me with noro
• wanted my husband to come along to visit her week-old newborn when he had a positive COVID test

I feel like some people ALWAYS need to hear this!

And this is the flip side of the "real flu" myth.
Because "just a cold" can leave me unable to get out of bed (literally unable to move ) and at risk of an ICU stay or even death.

Yes it absolutely does.

Why?

@RosesAndHellebores yep there are

I’ve explained several times now on this thread if you want to look back. I find it puzzling that some people would seemingly rather see the spread of disinformation than facts.

Agreed.

We've all just had the flu. DH was ill for 2 days, I've been down for a week, DC has been mildly unwell, DC2 largely unaffected, just a bit tired and DSD has been hospitalized (how we know it's definitely flu) - she's well now, was largely precautionary as she has some other health issues.

It’s a tiresome and potentially dangerous myth that it always has to be severe. And no you might not know for definite that you have flu unless you test for it/are tested but you don’t have to be confined to your bed to have flu.

I guess it's actually more dangerous if you can be asymptomatic or present mild cold symptoms. If you only have mild symptoms you crack on with work and socialising, potentially spreading infection to those who might get seriously ill. If you get the type that floors you you'll be home in bed.
I've never had any kind of "flu" test but I think I must have had it at least once as I couldn't get out of bed. It was as nothing compared to COVID though. DC1 had swine flu when that did the rounds. Scarily poorly.

I sort of agree and I sort of don't.

Since we know more about Covid, we can assume that flu is similar in that it can be pretty severe, cause hospitalizations right through to mild or even no symptoms.

I don't visit my parents any more if I even have a cold, I don't want them to get sick. Having said that, they participate in lots of social activities, go to cafes, choir where everyone is singing (spraying germs!)

There are times I'm exhausted and not sure if I'm ill and I don't think I could stay home or isolated all those times as it's not practical, certainly I go to work, and I mostly do still see other people.

I guess the thing to do is to be honest if you know someone is older and/or vulnerable and ask them their preferences. We also still use masks occasionally if one person has a cold and the other wants to pop in for some reason but doesn't want to hang out and get an obvious cold.

It's tricky.

My father used to diagnose himself with a touch of flu a couple of times each winter - only at the weekend though, never on a work day. He'd cure himself with lots of tea, and be better the next day.

I think this is the type of flu that is gently derrided.

I've had awful flu a couple of times, but I get what I think are bad colds every winter - maybe they're actually flu. Does it make a difference what I call it? I do my best to avoid spreading it either way.

I still get the flu vaccine every year, as I think of it as a serious illness. Talking down the potential severity of flu could lead to reduced vaccination rates, with very negative outcomes for those who are more susceptible.

You may have had flu other times without even knowing it. That's kind of the point.

It's still flu whether or not you call it flu.

No you don't. You have actual medical facts to go on. Anyone does, as long as they can read.