This may be helpful re: Flu symptoms

mlm1128

I think alot of people are thinking they have H1N1 as soon as they feel a little crappy.  Here is a chart I received from the pedi and from my employer.  It may calm some of your nerves, since it pretyy clearly outlines the symptoms.

  Know the Difference between Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

Symptom	Cold	H1N1  Flu
Fever	Fever is rare with a cold.	Fever is usually present with the flu in up to 80% of all flu cases.=2 0A temperature of 100?F or higher for 3 to 4 days is associated with the flu.
Coughing	A hacking, productive (mucus- producing) cough is often present with a cold.	A non-productive (non-mucus producing) cough is usually present with the flu (sometimes referred to as dry cough).
Aches	Slight body aches and pains can be part of a cold.	Severe aches and pains are common with the flu.
Stuffy Nose	Stuffy nose is commonly present with a cold and typically resolves spontaneously within a week.	Stuffy nose is not commonly present with the flu.
Chills	Chills are uncommon with a cold.	60% of people who have the flu experience chills.
Tiredness	Tiredness is fairly mild with a cold.	Tiredness is moderate to severe with the flu.
Sneezing	Sneezing is commonly present with a cold.	Sneezing is not common with the flu.
Sudden Symptoms	Cold symptoms tend to develop over a few days.	The flu has a rapid onset within 3-6 hours. The flu hits hard and includes sudden symptoms like high fever, aches and pains.
Headache	A headache is fairly uncommon with a cold.	A headache is very common with the flu, present in 80% of flu cases.
Sore Throat	Sore throat is commonly present with a cold.	Sore throat is not commonly present with the flu.
Chest Discomfort	Chest discomfort is mild to moderate with a cold.	Chest discomfort is often severe with the flu.

The only way to stop the spread of the epidemic is to spread the awareness.

AnnapolisLari

We should sticky this to the top of the forum.

KoriBrett

dude, I had all of that on the flu side LOL

I agree w/Lari, I'm so sick of everyone blithering on about it.

esposa38

That's awesome!  I wish I had seen this last Thursday, when JD and I came down with (very mild) colds, and I was beside myself in horror convinced beyond reason that we were dying of swine flu.  Insane, I was.  And the rational part of me knew it, but the hysteria had overtaken me, and I was beyond all rational thought.  (I did have the presence of dignity to keep all my psychosymatic hysteria mainly to myself, though.  But seeing this chart probably would have helped the rational part out with its losing battle.)

mlm1128

See, that's why I posted it.  Rationally I know people are worried, but the irrational part of me wants to scream at the PC everytime I see a post about the flu.

Angela814

Thank you!