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

Depends what they were a doctor of!
But sometimes GPs just say things without engaging their scientific brains at all I think. My GP told me it wasn't possible for my baby to be reacting to the food I was eating when they were breastfed. Once we finally saw a paediatrician I learnt how wrong they were! my son's boiling eczema had vanished within a couple of weeks of me cutting cows milk from my diet

Oh , you sweet summer child.

Agree. Up until recently I'd only ever had flu once and it was the 'wipes you out' kind. But I'm recovering from flu at the moment, and thanks (I presume) to the vaccine it didn't land nearly as hard as flu generally tends to. I kept myself isolated while infectious because I really don't believe in 'soldiering on' aka infecting everybody in one's vicinity, but I dare say a lot of people would have 'soldiered on' and infected a whole bunch of people, including the vulnerable, because it's 'just a cold'.* No. It. Really. Isn't.

(*I do realise some people have no choice to work or they won't get paid, or their job is crucial in some other way. I don't really mean them, rather the people who could isolate and choose not to.)

What. I can’t help wondering, is that if people are asymptomatic, or have only very mild symptoms, how can anybody know that it’s actual flu? AFAIK we don’t yet have the sort of Covid tests we used to use, and if anybody’s GP offers to test people who aren’t actually ill, I’d certainly like to hear about them!

I should imagine that the vast majority of people’s experience of flu, is feeling seriously rough and tired for at least a couple of weeks, an exhausting cough, and taking at least another 2-3 to feel anything like normal again.

I dare say that’s why we have ‘myths’ about it.

There are twin flu/Covid tests now, I’ve used them. They work in the same way as ‘solo’ Covid tests and seem to be regarded as reliable.

I don't think I've ever had influenza. Just overcoming a bad cold right now but even at my worst I was able to sit up and watch TV. I certainly wasn't bedridden.

Worst thing I’ve ever had was Covid in 2021. Wiped out. People who have had influenza have described similar , you just want to sit or sleep and can’t do much. Others who have had Covid sane time as me didn’t feel as bad.
Everyone is different, even a cold can make me feel rough, but I can carry on. It depends on so many factors I suppose or which strain you have.

This has been an interesting read. I'm 61, well educated and reasonably well-informed, and I didn't know that flu can be asymptomatic. Though thinking about it, I suppose if other viral illnesses like Covid can be asymptomatic then it makes sense that influenza can be, too.

I've only had what was probably flu once, as a ten year old, and I clearly remember being very unwell with it and really struggling to get out of bed. For the past few years I've made sure to get vaccinated. I didn't catch Covid until towards the end of the pandemic, and I was lucky as it was no worse than a mild cold for me. I still get vaccinated though. Where I live I qualify for both vaccines free of charge on age grounds now.

Yes it was a gp 😆

Same with Covid, first time I had it was completely debilitating and I lost my sense of taste and smell for 3 weeks, second time I felt fine and just had a sniffle 🤧

I got swine flu in 2009. I felt like shite, but I wasn't incapacitated at any point. I carried on looking after the children and doing what I needed to, in a significantly less energetic way. I may have had flu at other times as well, this is the only time it was confirmed. So I agree with you, op - it isn't true that 'it's not flu if you're able to get out of bed'. Sometimes you can.

I will quite happily admit I hadn’t realised this due to the myth so thanks OP

I only discovered this in fairly recent years too. The other myth (like covid too) is that it can’t floor/hospitalise/disable “healthy” people.

Have you tested every time you’ve had symptoms to know they are the only times you’ve had flu?

Ffs doctor on radio just answered question on how can tell if have flu and said flu would absolutely flatten you.

What’s your point though. You can get one cold type virus after another at this time of year. You can’t avoid everyone when you just have mild cold symptoms, and if you are asymptomatic you wouldn’t even know. So how does knowing this help anyone?

The point is that just because you have mild symptoms doesn't mean it's not a serious disease, so you shoukd avoid going out in public or at least be more careful around people who would be more vulnerable if they caught flu. A bit of a cold to you could kill them.

Thanks for this thread OP, this drives me mad too. And to all the PPs saying what’s the point, we all avoid visiting vulnerable people when we’re ill- loads of people don’t do this at all.

I’m immunocompromised. I’ve had one friend turn up at a gathering with their toddler and cheerfully announcing that the toddler was sick once or twice that morning, but not to worry they don’t seem ill…lo and behold, I spent the next few days vomiting and very unwell. Another person bringing their kid with bacterial tonsillitis along to a meet-up, another similar situation with a kid with scarlet fever which I of course caught. The absolute worst was turning up to a friend’s house, while pregnant, to discover her child had slapped cheek. All of these illnesses they knew about, and didn’t think to warn me despite the fact that they know I’m vulnerable. I don’t even expect people to change their plans to work around me, I just want to be warned so that I can decide not to attend to avoid catching stuff.

As soon as I become friendly with someone now, I have the ‘please always tell me if you’re ill before we meet up, even if it’s mild, because I could get seriously unwell’ conversation.

I completey agree OP, it is important that people know that flu is not just a cold that is debilitating but a separate virus.

On a side note, the other thing that winds me up on Mumsnet are the threads that ask if anyone has this horrible virus that's going around. People will be posting from completely different parts of the country (sometimes from different countries), so I don't know why people act like they are likely to all have the same virus!

To all those ‘I’ve had it x many times and was so ill’. Do you test each time to feel a bit grotty, or just on a regular basis throughout flu season? If not, how did you know those were the only times you had flu? These were likely just the only times you’ve had really bad flu that made you really ill.

Or ‘is there a bug going about atm’ I saw that just the other day on here. Of course there is! 😅

I see the point you’re trying to make. If you have a virus but are still up and about you need to consider that it could still be flu and be careful around vulnerable people as the same virus could be devastating for them.

Tbh I’ve been told the £50 thing by a GP before.

The other thing is colds cAn floor you too, i have had debilitating symptoms that have get me in bed in the past that’s got eye rolls from some people who believe everyone should carry on through a cold and laying down is seen as weakness.

I don’t agree with declaring everything is flu , I do agree we should be careful when we have a virus around vulnerable people.

Why is is dangerous to tell someone with mild symptoms (which could be a cold) that real flu is more serious? Surely if they got sicker they’d get medical help. Or they’d just recover. How would they even know it was flu if it was mild? You wouldn’t be seeking medical help so could well be a cold.

Drives me mad too op, we don’t have an annual vaccination program for a virus that everyone who is infected is bedridden, it wouldn’t spread well if that was the case. I’ve never knowingly had flu due to never being tested for it (I never tested positive for covid either during all of the regular testing period or until I ran out of tests). I have had mild viral illnesses and some where I have been quite unwell.

Complete agree OP. Each person probably gets flu once every five years on average through their life. But the only ones we identify as flu are the ones that make us ill enough to stay in bed, so we imagine it's rarer and more severe than it actually is.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/03/17/290878964/even-if-you-dont-have-symptoms-you-may-still-have-the-flu