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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder what it is that makes flu so scary?

66 replies

bubbleymummy · 04/01/2011 20:54

DH and I were chatting about this today. We all take risks with our health every day. People do things that they know increase their risk of different types of cancer and heart disease such as drink alcohol, smoke, eat unhealthy food etc . We get into our cars and drive, some people participate in risk sports..why is it that the idea of flu gets people so worked up? Is it purely the media coverage at the moment? When you look at the figures, catching flu should really be quite low down in our list of worries but yet so many people seem to be worrying about it. Why is that?

OP posts:

anonacfr · 04/01/2011 22:52

I'm 21 weeks pregnant and just had swine flu- I had a HORRIBLY painful cough, complete with metallic/bloody taste in my mouth- generally felt 'hallucinatey' but my temperature never got above 38. I took a bit of paracetamol and slept with the windows wide open and after a week the temperature was down.
I'm still knackered and getting over it but it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Ironic that a couple of weeks before I had it I was pondering about getting the jab, I was paranoid because of the pregnancy. My GP has now told me there's no point having it, which made me very happy!

Yes, it's been a crap Xmas but overall definitely not as bad as some of you guys! Guess I'm lucky?

katiestar · 04/01/2011 22:55

OP I suggest you googe the 1918 flu epidemic if you want to know why people are worried about it.
It can and does kill otherwise healthy people

sayithowitis · 04/01/2011 23:08

Cain, I will tell that to my colleague who caught flu last week then. My colleague who is around the same age as me. Healthy, no underlying health issues.And was quick to react to give herself the best chance.
Except that I can't tell her any of that, because she died! maybe I should tell that to her devastated DH and the primary age DCs. I am sure it will make them feel so much better!

CainInThePunt · 04/01/2011 23:42

Doesn't help your colleague but it probably progressed to pneumonia or some other complication. I'm not her medical expert so can't comment. I am sorry to hear she died.

It doesn't mean we should spread panic about catching ordinary flu. Sensible precautions yes, panic and over reaction, no.

It doesn't help matters to scaremonger.

backwardpossom · 04/01/2011 23:44

I don't know, maybe your definition of scary and my definition of scary are different, Caininthepunt . I know that delerium and a fever of 108˚ was pretty scary.

backwardpossom · 04/01/2011 23:45

That should be 108 degrees. MN doesn't seem to like the degree symbol.

CainInThePunt · 04/01/2011 23:55

Perhaps...

I have been in a 12 foot clinker boat on 20 foot seas. That was FUCKING SCARY. I suppose our perception may be different.

I have been in an offroad crash and flung down the hillside, knocked out and then had to lift the vehicle off my mother who was trapped underneath.

I have been charged by a wild boar next to my son.

I am sure you must have had equivalent experiences.

How different can your perspective of 'scary' be?

Don't be such a silly girl. Flu is fucking awful, its miserable and you can't do anything but its not THAT bad!

Unless you have complications in which case it is deadly. Then, it goes beyond flu.

Borisismyhousespider · 04/01/2011 23:57

We all had swine flu last year and it was bloody awful, took weeks to get over, just when you think you're getting better you relapse....my mum has it at the moment...has had it for 3 weeks now, not good...I had a friend who developed pnuemonia with it just before xmas, luckily his wife got very worried with how his cough was sounding and harranged his GP into coming out to him (as they don't like too, don't ya know!) and he got admitted to hospital, which saved his life...another friend wasn't so lucky last year and was dead within 48 hours of getting it, a 'healthy' 36 year old with one child If you get this illness, please make sure that you can get someone to keep an eye on you, don't try sweating it out alone, as it's the complications that will kill you, if they're not spotted in time.

backwardpossom · 05/01/2011 00:07

Cain - most of us in our lifetime never have to deal with scary shit like that. Flu was scary for me as I thought I was going to die... just as you thought (I assume) when the wild boar charged at you and your son. But then, hell, wasps scare the shite out of me.

But I bow down to your judgement of what constitutes scariness and we'll have to agree to disagree.

A1980 · 05/01/2011 00:36

BiscuitNibbler

I picked up a leaflet regarding the flu vaccination from Boots today. I have it in front of me as I type this. The leaflet says it does provide protection against H1N1 swine flu.

So I may just go and get it. £12.99 well spent.

babeinthewood · 05/01/2011 01:00

BUT if you have already had tamiflu or some other simmilar drugs it doesnt bloody work! My son had 'swine flu' at a year old we had to crush capsules of stuff in his food which made him then refuse to eat it, and he was horribly ill.

Ive never been a fan of all the vaccines they use nowadays, some work effectively although I wont go there with the mutliple vaccines they hand out. My kids are rarely ill so if they are I will spot it straight away, and personally Im happy to take my chances with it. If Im honest I find the jabs more scary than the illnesses

MrsBonkers · 05/01/2011 02:57

Maybe its because it can kill and you can 'catch' it. I mean, its not like you can catch cancer or a car crash.
And the likelyhood of catching it is somewhat out of your control - stood in post office queue someone sneezes on you / go to work by tube etc.
Real 'flu (as aposed to a bad cold) is bloody awful and I guenuinely thought I was dying when I had it.
Because so many of us have had 'flu at some point in our lives all the scare stories feel relevant to us. With so many other things that can kill us its easy to bury our heads in the sand and have a 'it'll never happen to me' attitude to protect ourselves.

BiscuitNibbler · 05/01/2011 08:09

A1980 - that's interesting. Wonder why their website is out of date then? You'd think they would be flagging the swine flu protection.

I'm in a dilemma now. Do I get the vaccination for myself knowing that I can't get it for my DD?

valiumredhead · 05/01/2011 08:38

REAL flu is awful ( by real I mean the sort that you can't even get out ouf bed with, not a bad cold) I've had it once and it took 4 weeks to recover from - couldn't even get to the bathroom by myself and couldn't get out of bed to get painkillers. My mum had to come and stay with us as I couldn't look after my ds who was about 7 at the time iirc. The thought of going through all that terrifies me tbh.

Sirzy · 05/01/2011 08:46

Flu is awful but 1500 ish people die from
It every year without all this fuss.

I have had swine flu and normal flu both were awful but I'm not getting worried about it! Ds is in an at risk group so is getting the flu jab next week as he will every year. If he wasn't 'at risk' I wouldn't be panicking to get one!

Original poster

bubbleymummy · 05/01/2011 10:48

katiestar, if you read up the thread you'll see that we already mentioned the pandemic flu of 1918.

I still see people thinking that you only have flu if it completely wipes you out- this is not true. You can have mild flu or have it completely asymptomatically. We are exposed to different flu viruses every year and we don't always show symptoms. Just like with all viruses, some people will gt sicker than others and some people's bodies will fight it off without us even noticing. Flu CAN make you very sick but it doesn't always.

OP posts:

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