Influenza wave: how long a real adult flu lasts
Created: 01/09/2023 12:29 PM
By: Jasmine Farah
Flu symptoms often come overnight – and then persist.
But how long do you have to wait until you feel better?
Anyone who has ever had a flu infection knows the whole range of symptoms: fever, headache and body aches and even chills.
Unfortunately, this tends to happen especially during the cold, wet season.
Therefore, many then ask themselves the question of how long they actually (still) have to stay in bed?
Anyone struggling with a flu infection hopes that it will pass quickly.
(symbol image) © McPHOTO/Imago
How long does a flu last - and when am I already contagious?
Basically, it is important and right that you take it easy and stay at home if you catch a flu.
After all, you are neither able to work nor to go to school and are highly contagious.
Unnecessary movement or exertion should be avoided as much as possible.
It doesn't help: Instead, you should allow yourself rest, drink a lot of tea and wait.
Important to know: A common cold and real flu are not the same.
Where a flu infection is usually over within a few days to several weeks, the real flu can be life-threatening.
Influenza infection lasts about five to seven days
As a rule, it is assumed that the incubation period of a flu-like infection, i.e. from the infection to the outbreak of the same, is only about one to two days.
The piquant thing about it: People who are already infected can then already be contagious for those around them.
The
flu infection
itself, on the other hand, lasts about five to seven days - in some cases it lasts for several weeks.
The reason for this: The duration of the disease usually depends on two factors -
on the one hand on the number and type of viruses that have penetrated and on the other hand on the functionality of the immune system
.
Since the symptoms of a flu infection usually come on suddenly without warning, it is possible that the symptoms alternate and not all appear at once.
Other complaints that can occur are:
loss of appetite
shortness of breath
dizziness
Muscle, joint and eye pain
sweats
exhaustion
Sore throat
coughing
It is also possible, for example, that the affected person
only develops a high fever at the peak of the disease
and nothing at the beginning of the outbreak.
Then an additional bacterial infection could be behind it.
Both together - viral and bacterial - then result in a so-called superinfection.
also read
CBD oil: How healthy is the hyped hemp “miracle cure” really?
TO READ
Heart palpitations at night: What causes can be behind it - from the thyroid gland to hormones
TO READ
Caution: Is this what your earwax looks like?
Then off to the doctor
TO READ
Dementia and Alzheimer's: A simple test shows your risk
TO READ
Nasal mucus: its color tells you if you should see a doctor
TO READ
Fancy a journey of discovery?
My space
However, you should be sure that this also
usually subsides after about three to four days
.
All other ailments that still accompany you also gradually subside as the flu-like infection lasts.
However, if you also suffer from a dry, irritable cough, you have to expect that it will probably be more persistent.
It can even take up to three weeks for this to disappear.
In these particular cases, flu can last longer than normal
In general, the flu lasts longer than a common cold or a cold.
The reason for this is that the "real" flu is triggered by aggressive influenza viruses that penetrate the body and the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and then multiply there.
When these then leave the cells, they burst open and messenger substances in them are released.
These then migrate to the surface and can cause an inflammatory reaction with the viruses already there.
The fever associated with the flu is therefore a good sign – it shows that the immune system is active and has to work hard right now.
But
after about a week, the worst should be over
and the damaged mucous membranes will regenerate.
In addition to the dry cough, however, other symptoms can last longer if other infections occur, such as
a sinus or middle ear infection,
an already weakened immune system or
if the person concerned belongs to the risk group defined by the Vaccination Commission (STIKO), including chronically ill people, pregnant women or the elderly.
That is why the Robert Koch Institute also recommends that these people get a flu shot. But when does it make sense? And which health insurance will cover the costs for this?
If this is not treated early, complications can arise in the end, which in the worst case can lead to death.
The life-saving poke: These risk groups should be vaccinated against flu
View photo gallery
How long does the flu in children last?
(Small) children are also
counted among the risk patients.
After all, they get a real flu far more often because their immune system is not fully developed in the first years of life.
Therefore, it is assumed that the
flu in a child lasts about eight to ten days
.
However, colds & Co. should then also be completely overcome.
Also read
: These tips help quickly and effectively against any flu symptoms.
Everything about influenza - and what helps against it and whether a flu vaccination makes sense, you can find out here.
