The symptoms can come on suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, and incapacitate you within hours of their appearance. The aches and fatigue are often described as the “worst I’ve ever experienced” and can confine even the hardiest souls to bed rest. What is this strange malady? It’s the garden variety influenza virus and it can wreck havoc on your ability to carry out your normal activities. 

It’s important that influenza symptoms be recognized early since certain antiviral medications can be given early on in the course of influenza which may significantly shorten the course of your illness. 

Just what are the symptoms of the influenza virus?

Influenza symptoms characteristically appear quite suddenly and can include the following: 

• High fever and chills
• Cough 
• Loss of appetite
• Extreme fatigue 
• Severe muscle aches and weakness
• Headache 

Although these symptoms are commonly seen with influenza, they can also be present in a variety of other infectious illnesses in addition to influenza. When these influenza type symptoms develop, it’s important you see our doctor early on for diagnosis to allow you the best chance to benefit from antiviral therapy. Your doctor can run a rapid influenza identification test in his office to determine if you have the influenza virus. Why is early diagnosis so important? Antiviral therapy must be started within 2 days of contracting the symptoms in order to be effective in reducing the length and severity of your symptoms.  Four medications are currently approved for treatment of influenza.  These include Oseltamivir, Rimantadine, Amantadine, and Zanamavir. These are all available only by prescription from your doctor. 

How do these medications help to relieve influenza symptoms? 

Because of their antiviral activity, they can shorten the course of influenza symptoms if you’re infected with the influenza type A or B viruses. They may also help to reduce the severity of your symptoms and possibly reduce the risk of influenza related complications such as pneumonia. These medications may also help to reduce the spread of the influenza virus to other people. This is particularly important if you come into contact with people who are at high risk for influenza complications including young children, the elderly, and people who immune deficiencies.

Although antiviral medications can be quite effective in reducing the length and severity of influenza symptoms, by far the best course of action is to prevent them from occurring by receiving a yearly influenza vaccine. This vaccine is effective in preventing influenza in about 80% of healthy adults who receive it.
 
As you can see, there’s much that can be done to reduce influenza symptoms and shorten the course of your illness, if recognized early. Learn to identify the symptoms of influenza and seek treatment early and you’ll back on your feet in short order!