Why You Need To See A Doctor When Flu

If you get the flu, you’ll likely experience a high fever, sore throat, cough, and lots of aches and pains. You might feel like you don’t need to see a doctor, and opt to treat yourself with extra rest and fluids. But in certain cases, seeing a doctor will help you get better faster and prevent major complications. And once you get over the flu, you certainly won’t want to get sick again.

It is possible to get the flu twice during the same flu season. Since there are two types of flu strains – influenza A and influenza B – if you get influenza A, you can also get influenza B.

If you get influenza A, your body will develop antibodies for influenza A that provide protection against it. Also, while the influenza A antibodies won’t protect you from getting influenza B, having influenza A doesn’t increase your risk of getting influenza B. Plus influenza B typically doesn’t cause as serious of an infection.

Most Common Symptoms

The most common symptoms of the flu:

• Fatigue
• Fever
• Throat Pain and Sore
• Cough (Dry or Wet)
• Chills
• Muscle Aches
• Runny or Stuffy Nose

Why is The Flu Serious?

The flu is well known to predispose people to secondary bacterial infections such as pneumonia, bronchitis and ear infections, among others. It’s really important for people to know when they develop flu if they are getting better and then get worse again, they need to be evaluated for a secondary bacterial infection.

Since 2010 in the United States, the flu has resulted in 140,000 to 960,000 hospitalizations Trusted Source and between 12,000 to 79,000 deaths each year. During the 2017-2018 season, there were at least 185 flu-associated deaths Trusted Source in children, and roughly 80 percent of these deaths occurred in children who hadn’t received a flu vaccination.

Go to Emergency Room

You should go to the 24 hour emergency room if you have any of these symptoms:

• Difficulty breathing
• Chest pain
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Sudden dizziness
• Severe neck stiffness
• Loss of consciousness

You’re considered high risk

• You are age 65 or older
• You have a chronic medical condition (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease)
• You have a compromised immune system
• You are pregnant or up to two weeks’ postpartum

Even though most people recover in a week or two at home, the flu shouldn’t be taken lightly. Being aware of when you should see a doctor is important.