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Cold vs Flu, aka Facts vs myth

13

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  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    Lovely
  • SuedeAdidas
    SuedeAdidas Posts: 7,740
    I'm pretty sure I've never had 'proper' flu.....

    My brother once described it to me by saying that if you were in bed with Flu and an Arsenal fan (my bro was a Spurs fan) dropped a £50 note on the floor next to you.....you would't have the energy to lean over and pick it up.
  • roseandcrown
    roseandcrown Posts: 7,587
    had flu once when 13, was in bed for a week and even after well enough to go back to school was tired for weeks. 
  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608
    I've had flu once about 10 years ago. I was in bed for a week or so and lost a stone. Instant weight loss, flu.
  • Carter
    Carter Posts: 14,242
    Yeah proper flu is horrific and I'm not surprised it kills so many people yearly. Apparently I had it as a kid and I definitely had it as an adult working away in Yorkshire once too, I reckon I wasn't right for 3 weeks after having that 

    My own 2 cents for what they are worth is I don't like people who come into work when they have any sort of contagious illness especially anything gastric. I worked with a sickness martyr and the weasel has given all of us a cold or spread some germ to us at some point or another. Besides that when he comes in ill he does bugger all just gives it large about how northerners don't go sick and how ill he is. I'm glad I don't work with him anymore, he didn't help us out coming in full of cold coughing and sneezing when he wasn't telling us all how heroic he was for coming in yet then saying he was too ill to do anything useful. Tosser
  • BR3red
    BR3red Posts: 1,715
    Redmidland said:
    As some of you know I've been working in China recently, in fact I've just got back. I had the flu jab before I left, I have to have it because of my recent Heart problem. Whilst in Hangzhou I became unwell, very unwell, I caught Asian Flu. I've never felt so poorly and never want to again!! On the flight back I worsened and when I landed at Dubai, 'Emirates' airlines sent two Doctors to see me at the airport to see if I could continue back to UK. Fortunately they said yes after conducting some tests. I'm still recovering now and not been out of bed since last Friday evening. I'm hoping to get back to work next Monday, I now know what the difference is between a 'cold' and the 'flu'. I wouldn't wish the latter on my worst enemy. Its the most debilitating virus I've ever had.
    Hmmmmm 🤫

    You never know....conspiracies start with post like this ...🤪
  • razil
    razil Posts: 15,041
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
  • mendonca
    mendonca Posts: 9,405
    edited December 2022
    SuedeAdidas said:
    I'm pretty sure I've never had 'proper' flu.....

    My brother once described it to me by saying that if you were in bed with Flu and an Arsenal fan (my bro was a Spurs fan) dropped a £50 note on the floor next to you.....you would't have the energy to lean over and pick it up

    I've heard of the £50 note analogy, but the first time it's been referenced to the ownership of a rival club!

  • RedChaser
    RedChaser Posts: 19,885
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    Had a bit of a cold otherwise I’m ok touch wood although I’m not aware that I’ve ever met your relatives 😉.
  • cafcdave123
    cafcdave123 Posts: 11,491
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    I get the flu jab every year as I take immunosuppressive drugs and never even get the sniffles.

    my parents get it every year because they're old and my mum always ends up with a really bad head cold, she she's shed rather have that for a couple days than get the full blown flu 
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  • Talal
    Talal Posts: 11,484
    edited December 2022
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    Edit, misread the post!
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    edited December 2022
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    You most definitely can’t become infected with influenza by taking a flu vaccine. Flu vaccines are traditional viral vector vaccines and that’s to say they carry a small inert part of the influenza virus that is inactive (dead) but carries enough information that the bodies immune system recognises the antigen and can become primed should the body come into contact with the real virus. 
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    Talal said:
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    Are we? I always thought it reduced the chances of getting it but wasn't 100% effective. 
    There are four types of influenza virus that circulate. A,B,C and D. The first two are the ones that cause problems worldwide every flu season. Every summer, virologists look at the previous flu season and try to predict which of A or B will be causing the problems for the next flu season. A or B and the small changes in those variants. It’s not a perfect science and sometimes they “guess” wrong and the vaccines that year are not as effective. No vaccine can prevent infection but a vaccine can help prep your bodies immune system so that it recognises and can quickly and effectively fight the virus once in the body. Flu is a bastard disease and if you’ve had it you’ll know exactly the difference between flu and a common cold or similar respiratory virus. I’d urge everybody to get vaccinated against flu every year. 
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,034
    Feel like I’ve had a cold for bloomin weeks now that I just can’t get rid of 
  • cafcdave123
    cafcdave123 Posts: 11,491
    se9addick said:
    Feel like I’ve had a cold for bloomin weeks now that I just can’t get rid of 
    sounds like aids mate.
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    se9addick said:
    Feel like I’ve had a cold for bloomin weeks now that I just can’t get rid of 
    I’ve heard that said so much this winter. I’ve just come out of about four weeks of cold symptoms. Where I work, a general hospital it’s like every other person both staff and patients are coughing and spluttering. 
  • se9addick
    se9addick Posts: 32,034
    cafcdave123 said:
    se9addick said:
    Feel like I’ve had a cold for bloomin weeks now that I just can’t get rid of 
    sounds like aids mate.
    That’s going to ruin Christmas! 
  • swords_alive
    swords_alive Posts: 4,260
    I get it every year. Current one running since start of November. 
    I rarely get the flu jab owing to being too busy or suchlike, but had it two weeks ago and it seemed to kick my immune system into life (possibly some placebo in that too).

    Also I started taking omeprozaole (gut reflex tablet) this week and that has helped greatly, suggesting some gut issue allied to the condition. Seeing an immunologist in late January finally, after 10+ years of trying, and will hopefully get some help from them too.  
  • ME14addick
    ME14addick Posts: 9,761
    edited December 2022
    Has anyone considered that having had Covid could be having an effect on the body's ability to fight other infections?  I'm always laughed at when I suggest this on the Covid thread, but there have been several studies that suggest that having had Covid may reduce your immunity. Many people are saying they have had the worst cold or flu like symptoms for prolonged periods, but they are happy to think that reduced social contact over the last 3 years is the cause, but are not willing to even consider that previous Covid infection/s may be causing people to be sicker than usual with other infections.

    It's already accepted that a Covid infection results in greater likelihood of a stroke or heart problems, but Covid is a relatively new virus and we still don't know enough about it to rule out the long term effects of having several Covid infections.
  • eaststandmike
    eaststandmike Posts: 14,956
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    You need to start avoiding the in laws after they have been jabbed.
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  • PragueAddick
    PragueAddick Posts: 22,144
    Blimey, I opened this thread and was stunned to discover that actually I started it, 4 years ago - that innocent time before Covid. 

    I started getting a flu jab in 2020, after previously disdaining it, because it started to dawn on me that you deffo don't want flu and Covid in anywhere near the same timescale. Fortunately I've dodged both so far, which means I continue to believe that the last time I had flu was probably in 1984, when I was so bad I could hardly get out of bed to have a leak. Anything else I can recall doesn't qualify as more than a heavy cold - it's a long time since I had a cold so bad that I could not even get out of bed, eat, argue on CL etc. 

    So my question, mainly for @ShootersHillGuru is much the same as back then - has the medical profession got any way to distinguish between flu and a heavy cold? Is there a PCR or antigen test for flu?  And is it really possible that I could go getting on 40 years without getting flu? Is it in fact relatively hard to get flu, and the authorities want to protect the more vulnerable by getting them jabbed, but don't have an easy way to say that someone is "more vulnerable?

    And more generally has anyone ever heard of a footballer missing out on a match because he's got "a cold"? I haven't. It's always "flu". That's macho bollocks, isn't it? Imagine the row if Harry Maguire missed out because he's got a cold  :)
  • IdleHans
    IdleHans Posts: 10,961
    PragueAddick said:
    Blimey, I opened this thread and was stunned to discover that actually I started it, 4 years ago - that innocent time before Covid. 

    I started getting a flu jab in 2020, after previously disdaining it, because it started to dawn on me that you deffo don't want flu and Covid in anywhere near the same timescale. Fortunately I've dodged both so far, which means I continue to believe that the last time I had flu was probably in 1984, when I was so bad I could hardly get out of bed to have a leak. Anything else I can recall doesn't qualify as more than a heavy cold - it's a long time since I had a cold so bad that I could not even get out of bed, eat, argue on CL etc. 

    So my question, mainly for @ShootersHillGuru is much the same as back then - has the medical profession got any way to distinguish between flu and a heavy cold? Is there a PCR or antigen test for flu?  And is it really possible that I could go getting on 40 years without getting flu? Is it in fact relatively hard to get flu, and the authorities want to protect the more vulnerable by getting them jabbed, but don't have an easy way to say that someone is "more vulnerable?

    And more generally has anyone ever heard of a footballer missing out on a match because he's got "a cold"? I haven't. It's always "flu". That's macho bollocks, isn't it? Imagine the row if Harry Maguire missed out because he's got a cold  :)

    It's fine so long as he's got a note from his mum
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    edited December 2022
    PragueAddick said:
    Blimey, I opened this thread and was stunned to discover that actually I started it, 4 years ago - that innocent time before Covid. 

    I started getting a flu jab in 2020, after previously disdaining it, because it started to dawn on me that you deffo don't want flu and Covid in anywhere near the same timescale. Fortunately I've dodged both so far, which means I continue to believe that the last time I had flu was probably in 1984, when I was so bad I could hardly get out of bed to have a leak. Anything else I can recall doesn't qualify as more than a heavy cold - it's a long time since I had a cold so bad that I could not even get out of bed, eat, argue on CL etc. 

    So my question, mainly for @ShootersHillGuru is much the same as back then - has the medical profession got any way to distinguish between flu and a heavy cold? Is there a PCR or antigen test for flu?  And is it really possible that I could go getting on 40 years without getting flu? Is it in fact relatively hard to get flu, and the authorities want to protect the more vulnerable by getting them jabbed, but don't have an easy way to say that someone is "more vulnerable?

    And more generally has anyone ever heard of a footballer missing out on a match because he's got "a cold"? I haven't. It's always "flu". That's macho bollocks, isn't it? Imagine the row if Harry Maguire missed out because he's got a cold  :)
    As far as I know there is no known readily available test like the PCR for influenza. If you become sick enough and need to be admitted into hospital they will do a blood culture to confirm influenza. In all honesty, even a heavy cold is extremely unlikely to require admittance into hospital. A bacterial chest infection as a consequence of a cold virus is possible but most will be treatable after a GP visit with antibiotics. The flu really knocks you sideways and if you have it you’ll soon be able to distinguish the difference with a cold very easily. I’ve had it once and was in bed in a darkened room for 4 days and unable to get out of bed. Horrible disease and is one you really don’t want. It is harder to catch influenza than a cold purely because it’s a numbers game. There are many many more cold and rhino viruses out there than influenza and many many more people will be exposed to colds than flu. Similarly as with Covid, a proportion of influenza infections will be mild or even asymptomatic so it’s very possible that you’ve had flu and thought it was a cold or even didn’t know you’ve had anything.
  • TeamOfKermorgants
    TeamOfKermorgants Posts: 19
    ShootersHillGuru said:
    PragueAddick said:
    Blimey, I opened this thread and was stunned to discover that actually I started it, 4 years ago - that innocent time before Covid. 

    I started getting a flu jab in 2020, after previously disdaining it, because it started to dawn on me that you deffo don't want flu and Covid in anywhere near the same timescale. Fortunately I've dodged both so far, which means I continue to believe that the last time I had flu was probably in 1984, when I was so bad I could hardly get out of bed to have a leak. Anything else I can recall doesn't qualify as more than a heavy cold - it's a long time since I had a cold so bad that I could not even get out of bed, eat, argue on CL etc. 

    So my question, mainly for @ShootersHillGuru is much the same as back then - has the medical profession got any way to distinguish between flu and a heavy cold? Is there a PCR or antigen test for flu?  And is it really possible that I could go getting on 40 years without getting flu? Is it in fact relatively hard to get flu, and the authorities want to protect the more vulnerable by getting them jabbed, but don't have an easy way to say that someone is "more vulnerable?

    And more generally has anyone ever heard of a footballer missing out on a match because he's got "a cold"? I haven't. It's always "flu". That's macho bollocks, isn't it? Imagine the row if Harry Maguire missed out because he's got a cold  :)
    As far as I know there is no known readily available test like the PCR for influenza. If you become sick enough and need to be admitted into hospital they will do a blood culture to confirm influenza. In all honesty, even a heavy cold is extremely unlikely to require admittance into hospital. A bacterial chest infection as a consequence of a cold virus is possible but most will be treatable after a GP visit with antibiotics. The flu really knocks you sideways and if you have it you’ll soon be able to distinguish the difference with a cold very easily. I’ve had it once and was in bed in a darkened room for 4 days and unable to get out of bed. Horrible disease and is one you really don’t want. It is harder to catch influenza than a cold purely because it’s a numbers game. There are many many more cold and rhino viruses out there than influenza and many many more people will be exposed to colds than flu. Similarly as with Covid, a proportion of influenza infections will be mild or even asymptomatic so it’s very possible that you’ve had flu and thought it was a cold or even didn’t know you’ve had anything.

    There's nasal swabs that include influenza A and B, as well as COVID and other common causes of respiratory symptoms, that we use - they work through PCR. We request these extended respiratory panels more than just COVID PCRs now. 

    Anecdotally a lot of patients testing positive for the flu at the moment, not just on admission but on the wards.
  • JiMMy 85
    JiMMy 85 Posts: 10,193
    I don't know what I've got, but whatever it is, it's fucking nasty. Day 6 and it's still getting worse. Even Covid backed off after six days. This one... this one wants to break me. 
  • PopIcon
    PopIcon Posts: 5,970
    I've had a cough for over three weeks now, with covid sandwiched in the middle.

    Oh and my arse has no latch.
  • paulsturgess
    paulsturgess Posts: 3,800
    I had horrific flu from about 3rd December, could barely move for 5 days, just about got over it middle of last week then this week have got what seems to be a new cold coughing and sneezing all over the gaff. The winner yesterday sent me into a minute long coughing fit
  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,348
    razil said:
    We’re told categorically that you can’t get flu and therefore spread it to relatives etc from having the flu jab. And yet every year my inlaws get the jab and get sick and make us all sick, anyone else have the same experience?
    Just out of bed for a couple of hours ..  I had the flu jab at the end of October .. last Sunday it started, by far the worst dose of the flu I can ever remember having .. a bit frightening as my breathing has been badly affected. like ..  is it flu? is it covid ? .. I live alone and without sounding too either feeble or dramatic, I have not had the strength to drive to the docs or even to phone them .. gradually getting better but still (Thursday 22) feeling groggy and ill ..
     as said above, until you catch it you can't imagine how wealk and fragile you feel .. also, no vaccine can prevent every infection ..
    lots of different types of cold/flu/whatever viruses about ..
     I wonder what else crawled out of Wuhan to keep the covid virus company ?
  • SoundAsa£
    SoundAsa£ Posts: 22,477
    I have had flu just the once, about 1970 in my early 20’s, I lost 6 days of my life in a semi coma.
    I can honestly say that if I caught it again now I would be hospitalised immediately and it would be 50/50 whether or not I survive.
    In a nut shell, if you’re lying in bed and a £50 note floated past the window you’d say fuck it, I’m staying right where I am.
    If you have a cold you’ll manage to go and fetch it.
    The number of people who call in to work and say they have flu but I’ll be in tomorrow, oh no you won’t, who are you kidding.🧐
  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    SoundAsa£ said:
    I have had flu just the once, about 1970 in my early 20’s, I lost 6 days of my life in a semi coma.
    I can honestly say that if I caught it again now I would be hospitalised immediately and it would be 50/50 whether or not I survive.
    In a nut shell, if you’re lying in bed and a £50 note floated past the window you’d say fuck it, I’m staying right where I am.
    If you have a cold you’ll manage to go and fetch it.
    The number of people who call in to work and say they have flu but I’ll be in tomorrow, oh no you won’t, who are you kidding.🧐
    100%

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