Please, please, stop calling it the flu if it's not.

tolosenc · 23-11-2008 06:31PM #1

I had my mum in casualty earlier, some form of intestinal infection. But the number of people in the place was shocking, it was my first experience of the overloading of the health service.

But so many of the people that were there didn't need to be, according to the triage nurse. They come in, complaining of having the flu (something for which you should definitely be seen, don't get me wrong), but most merely have a simple cold, rarely a severe one according to this nurse.

So, in a bid to aid somewhat our rather underfunded and definitely ailing health service, here, my fellow boardsies, is a quick reference to differentiate between colds and the flu:

Fever: Flu has a severe fever, lasting a 3 or 4 days. Temperatures of 39-40 degrees C (100-104 F). A fever is characteristic of the flu, ie if you don't have one, you probably don't have the flu.
Exhaustion: Sudden severe exhaustion often accompanies the flu, leaving sufferers bedridden for 5 days to 2 weeks. Such exhaustion is not associated with a cold, but a very common symptom of the flu.
Aches: Severe headaches and joint pain are to be expected with the flu, but if present at all with a cold, they would be mild.
Stuffy nose/Sneezing/Sore throat: Very common with, and oftentimes characteristic of, a common cold. Occasional with a flu.
Cough: In the case of the flu, coughing can be so severe as to cause serious internal damage to the patient, and is usually very painful and severe. Coughing with a cold, conversely, isn't quite so serious. Coughing is expected with both.
Complications: With a cold, you're looking at ear infections or sinus congestion. With the flu - pneumonia, bronchitis, kidney failure, heart failure, death.

So, please cease the hyperbole when it comes to illness, and let the seriously ill be taken seriously when rushed to hospital. I'm not pointing fingers at anyone.

Thanks.

</rant>

**Please note: I'm not a medical professional, as such, I'll only recommend you go to your GP if in doubt. No liability is assumed on my part.

Gaspode · 23-11-2008 06:37PM

In before the lock. Trust me peeps, if you have flu, you dont have the energy to tell anyone about it!

hallelujah · 23-11-2008 06:42PM

Agreed.

I am a reformed flu prick. I went to the doctor once feeling rough telling him I had the flu. The blimin' cheek of ME telling HIM I had the flu :eek:

Without examining me, he looked at me and said 'You don't have the flu, you have a cold'. Put me right back in my box and fair play to him.

minidazzler · 23-11-2008 06:48PM

Basically everyone on my mams side of the Family is like this. Constantly in A&E for trivial things, or just because there GP is closed. Cant stand it!!!

javaboy · 23-11-2008 06:50PM

+1. I hate people who exaggerate their ailments. Am I wrong for wishing the real flu on people who are up and about with a runny nose whining about the flu? I don't think so.

Cold -> Flu :mad:
Headache -> Migraine :mad:
Cough -> Chest infection :mad:
Sore throat -> Larengitis/Tonsilitis :mad:
Indigestion/Diarrhoea/Upset stomach -> Food poisoning :mad:

Madam · 23-11-2008 06:50PM

Way to tell if you have flu or not (man flu excluded)! If I drop a £10 pound note at the bottom of your bed and you pick it up - you don't have the flu you have a cold:rolleyes:

Wertz · 23-11-2008 06:51PM

I demand antibiotics for my mild respiratory tract viral infection right this minute!

...and we wonder where hospital superbugs come from.

View Profile · 23-11-2008 06:52PM

People who go to the doctors or hospital for minor ailments like a common cold drive me up the wall.

Calm down, your not going to die, just drink plenty of fluids and get a good nights rest.

My GF and her family are like this. They will go to the doctor or pharmacy for very minor issues looking for medication which they don't actually need. They spend a fortune on this stuff, keeping the pharmaceutical companies happy, and fill their bodies full of chemicals. Hello people! Your body has an immune system for a reason. Let it do its job!

xOxSinéadxOx · 23-11-2008 06:55PM

I hate people who say they have the flu when they have a cold! how the hell are they out of bed? if you have the flu you literally can't get out of bed. and people who go to the doctor and stuff for nothing :mad: I haven't been to the doctor in years and I haven't died yet. And people who think they need antibiotics for everything are so stupid

Cheeky_gal · 23-11-2008 07:05PM

obl wrote: »

They come in, complaining of having the flu (something for which you should definitely be seen, don't get me wrong),

Why would someone with a flu go to the hospital? A flu is just like a cold times 2.

Sometimes I tell people I have the flu ....

When i have nothing at all . . .hehe

javaboy · 23-11-2008 07:10PM

Cheeky_gal wrote: »

Why would someone with a flu go to the hospital? A flu is just like a cold times 2.

Because the flu can kill maybe? And no a flu is not a cold times 2. Come back when you've had the flu.

Sangre · 23-11-2008 07:13PM

If you can get yourself to the GP or Hospital yourself you don't have flu.

Cheeky_gal · 23-11-2008 07:16PM

javaboy wrote: »

Because the flu can kill maybe? And no a flu is not a cold times 2. Come back when you've had the flu.

LOL.

BroomBurner · 23-11-2008 07:19PM

Sometimes you have to go to the doc though just to get that stupid sick noted because you're out of work for three days or more. Our workplace requires you to have this note in on the third day (stupid, stupid rule) regardless of whether you are well enough to get out of bed or not to bring/post it in.

Flu is worse worse worse than a cold. If you think you've had the flu and that it was just like an extra bad cold, it probably was just an extra bad cold.

I hate when people take antibiotics for a flu aswell, there is no point.

Berty · 23-11-2008 07:21PM

For years people with hypocondria complained of having numerous different ilness's.

2 years ago the medical community considered hypocondria to be a mental imbalance.

Meaning = The hypocondriacts were correct all along, there actually is something wrong with them.

23-11-2008 07:22PM

javaboy wrote: »

Because the flu can kill maybe? And no a flu is not a cold times 2. Come back when you've had the flu.

as a ghost?

javaboy · 23-11-2008 07:30PM

rarnes1 wrote: »

as a ghost?

The flu CAN kill. It doesn't always.

CreepingDeath · 23-11-2008 07:32PM

obl wrote: »

Please, please, stop calling it the flu if it's not.

I'm still going to call it a flu until Benylin-4-Colds is released on to the market.

javaboy · 23-11-2008 07:36PM

CreepingDeath wrote: »

I'm still going to call it a flu until Benylin-4-Colds is released on to the market.

I didn't think they made Benylin-4-Flu anymore. Is it not all branded Cold & Flu now?

ejmaztec · 23-11-2008 08:16PM

I thought that "virus" covered everything from a slight headache to multiple stab wounds in the A&E. Flu is so 90s.

lisajane · 23-11-2008 10:47PM

javaboy wrote: »

+1. I hate people who exaggerate their ailments. Am I wrong for wishing the real flu on people who are up and about with a runny nose whining about the flu? I don't think so.

Cold -> Flu :mad:
Headache -> Migraine :mad:
Cough -> Chest infection :mad:
Sore throat -> Larengitis/Tonsilitis :mad:
Indigestion/Diarrhoea/Upset stomach -> Food poisoning :mad:

I hate those people too. They are so annoying. What's worse are those people that tell you to go to the doctor to get the "flu" sorted.
I had a cold a few weeks back, the amount people that asked me did i have the flu. All i said, NO. Themselves looking at me, yes you do, you're sneezing, you should go to the doctor and get antibiotics.

KTRIC · 23-11-2008 11:11PM

I had the flu about 8 years ago and it was f*cked up. I was in bed for about 7 days, each day blurring into the next and I had really trippy dreams.

A cold is not even remotely like the Flu. Its like comparing a paper cut to being decapitated.

slimjimmc · 23-11-2008 11:28PM

There's no medicinal cure for the common cold. All that over the counter junk does is merely help to sooth the symptoms. Influenza (flu) is a different animal all together. According to this there have been a number of killer flu epidemics in the last century which killed millions. Puts it all in persepective doesn't it.

Savman · 23-11-2008 11:32PM

obl wrote: »

nurse

Pics or it didn't happen.

Dudess · 23-11-2008 11:32PM

It's a very Irish thing - the way a lot of Irish people are always cold, even when it's pretty mild.

Savman · 23-11-2008 11:33PM

KTRIC wrote: »

I had the flu about 8 years ago and it was f*cked up. I was in bed for about 7 days, each day blurring into the next and I had really trippy dreams.

People like you really shouldn't fly.

Riddle101 · 23-11-2008 11:35PM

lol people think it's stupid that people who claim they have the flu go to the hosptal. I think it's stupid going to the hospital at all unless it's serious like you got shot or stabbed or a broken bone. But i can't stand hospitals and i'll only go if I have no other choice

slimjimmc · 23-11-2008 11:39PM

Yeah go in with the 'flu' and come out with MRSA

Wishbone Ash · 23-11-2008 11:43PM

Cheeky_gal wrote: »

A flu is just like a cold times 2

You've obviously never had influenza. :rolleyes:

Dudess · 23-11-2008 11:52PM

I had the flu a few years ago. The room I was renting at the time was tiny and rarely cold - a quick blast from the radiator would have it absolutely roasting. And I'm not a cold person anyway. That time though, I was shivering so much, I had to put on the heating at 4am and leave it on til about 9. Getting out of bed to go to the toilet was a task which required every bit of strength I had. Standing up straight wasn't even possible as for some reason, it brought on severe nausea.

So when someone at work says "I'm dying with the flu" they're eh... not.

Old people have to get the flu jab because a dose of it could kill them.

KTRIC · 24-11-2008 12:04AM

I worked in a large multi national about 5 years ago and one of the lads in a office of about 20 came in with the actual flu. The boss coped it and he was nearly sacked.

Please, please, stop calling it the flu if it's not.

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