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Influenza is a very debilitating disease that is common in the winter months. It is spread by airborne droplets that we inhale. The close proximity of people as they huddle around their winter fires has always been the prime time for transmitting the disease.

Each year a different strain passes around the world, starting in the East and working westwards. As each year's strain is identified a specific vaccine is manufactured. Every year the strain and the vaccine are different, it is hoped that new developments in the field will mean that within five years one vaccination will provide life long immunity.

Vaccination is the only prevention for flu, and even the vaccinated patient can catch a different strain. Vaccination is recommended for the elderly and the infirm, for patients who already have compromised immune systems and those in whom the disease would be more severe such as diabetics and heart patients.

The symptoms of flu are the same as for the common cold, only they are worse and strike more suddenly. Initially there is a slight temperature and an itchy throat, but , in the case of flu, this develops rapidly into a high temperature, aching joints, sneezing and a runny nose with a sore throat.

The symptoms develop more rapidly than with a cold. You feel healthy and then within a few hours are so ill that you can't leave your bed . With a cold symptoms take days to develop and do not generally stop you going about your daily life.

Because flu is viral there are no effective treatments unless it is caught quickly. Effective treatments have to be started within twenty four hours of symptoms developing, and even then they only decrease the severity of the illness and shorten its duration.

Our main line of defense is prevention and symptomatic treatment. To prevent catching the flu you must have your immune system in good condition by eating plenty of foods containing vitamin C and Zinc. You must try to avoid coming into contact with people who have flu and may infect you.

This means paying more attention to personal hygiene and avoiding unnecessarily crowded areas.

If you catch the flu, over the counter and herbal remedies will treat symptoms. The same remedies work for colds and flu. Most over the counter treatments are very similar.

They contain something for the pain and fever ( usually acetaminophen or ibuprofen), something for the runny nose( usually pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine or an antihistamine), and something for a cough. They may be presented as a syrup

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