Flu treatment
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This article is about flu treatment in humans for mild human flu, which includes both efforts to reduce symptoms and to battle the flu virus itself. This overlaps somewhat with efforts to avoid catching the flu in the first place (using vaccines, for example).[1]
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[edit] Conventional treatment
If you get the flu, get plenty of rest, drink a lot of liquids, and avoid using alcohol and tobacco. [2] You can take medications such as acetaminophen (paracetamol) to relieve the fever and muscle aches associated with the flu. Children and teenagers with flu symptoms (particularly fever) should avoid taking aspirin as taking aspirin in the presence of influenza infection (especially influenza type B) can lead to Reye syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease of the liver. [3]
During the 2005-2006 flu season in the United States, CDC encourages the use of oseltamivir for flu prevention and the use of oseltamivir or zanamivir for flu treatment. [4]
The CDC says:
- Three antiviral drugs (amantadine, rimantadine, and oseltamivir) are approved for use in preventing the flu. These are prescription medications, and a doctor should be consulted before they are used. During the 2005-2006 influenza season, CDC recommends against the use of amantadine or rimantadine for the treatment or prophylaxis of influenza in the United States. [2]
The annual flu (also called "seasonal flu" or "human flu") kills an estimated 36,000 people in the United States each year. Measured resistance to the standard antiviral drugs amantadine and rimantadine in H3N2 has increased from 1% in 1994 to 12% in 2003 to 91% in 2005. [5]
[edit] Symptomatic Treatment
A wide variety of cold and flu ‘remedies’ are available at drugstores without a prescription (OTC — Over The Counter). Consumers are often unaware that they do not directly fight the virus or shorten the infection, and are skillfully marketed (methods beyond obvious and effective media advertising include payments for shelf space in stores). Various combinations of pain-killer, expectorant, decongestant, antihistamine, and other ingredients treat cough, congestion, runny nose, and other symptoms. However, none of these interferes with the virus’s ability to reproduce or spread.
[edit] Unconventional treatment
Homeopathic and other cold and flu remedies that fail to meet the regulatory requirements required to be marketed as drugs that treat disease, or the standards of evidence-based medicine, are heavily marketed and widely sold as nutritional supplements. They may be based on extracts of living things, but may lack documentation of their safety and effectiveness. They may be promoted by those who deny the need for such testing and may fail to provide a scientifically plausible rationale for their effectiveness.
[edit] Sources and notes
- ^ Animal husbandry practices including animal pneumonia, vaccinating, and culling animals is not part of this article. Treatment of severe flu and complications including pneumonia is not part of this article. The rare instances of flu viruses not adapted to humans (such as avian flu virus H5N1) causing flu in humans is not part of this article.
- ^ a b CDC
- ^ CDC
- ^ CDC
- ^ Reason New York Times
