Season flu and stomach flu - differences to know about

 Season flu and stomach flu - differences to know about

The world has been fighting tooth and claw to fight the deadly diseases of the new age. However, we still aren’t aware of the damage caused by merely common diseases such as the influenza. So much so, that the names of stomach flu and flu are often misused.

Although the names of seasonal flu and stomach flu are somewhat similar, and both of them are abbreviated as “flu” at times, there is a huge difference between stomach flu and flu. The symptoms, causative agents and the course of disease are completely different for both these infections. Cough and cold being the major indicators of influenza, Online pharmacy UK is well equipped with the healthcare solutions for the same. 

 

Let’s delve deep into this topic and understand the difference between these two.

What are the symptoms of stomach flu?

Stomach flu is a gastrointestinal disorder that shows symptoms as follows:

 

  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Stomach pain
  • Fever (occasional)

 

Stomach flu or gastroenteritis is caused by rotavirus, norovirus or bacteria. Sometimes children show symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea in the case of influenza. Gastroenteritis might be extremely painful and horrible but it is not as dangerous as influenza. A little medical attention is required in the case of stomach flu. The vomiting might continue for a day and the diarrhea goes on for more than a few days.

 

The most important precaution you can take here is to stay hydrated. If you keep vomiting for more than a day, it is advisable to contact your healthcare provider immediately.

 

 

What happens in stomach flu?

The gastrointestinal tract gets inflamed in this disease. The causes of this disease are variable as mentioned before and they can be contracted from unclean water or contaminated food as well. Now, in a lot of cases the virus is the causative agent and hence it cannot be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are only useful when it is a bacterial infection. The duration of this disease is seven to ten days and then it starts wearing off. In most of the cases the causative agent is norovirus as informed by the CDC.

 

Influenza or seasonal flu

As contrary to stomach flu, influenza only affects the respiratory system. Lungs, throat and nose are largely affected due to influenza. The best part here is that you can prevent this by taking a flu shot.

 

Cough and cold are the primary symptoms of influenza. Body ache, muscular pain, congestion, fever and fatigue etc. are some other symptoms to spot influenza. Most people recover from influenza without any consequences at all. Some people might catch a secondary infection or some complications if good care is not taken at the time of infection. 

 

 

In case you have contracted influenza, your health will get better in a few days. However, you will begin to notice worse symptoms where you’ll experience a high fever. In this case, you need to contact a healthcare professional as soon as possible. You might need further treatment in such a case and your doctor will have to make another diagnosis.

 

If you are sure you have the flu, and you fall into the high-risk group, you need to be in touch with a healthcare professional as soon as possible to make sure you get the medication on time. If you’re able to take the medication within the first two days of you showing the symptoms. It can decrease the intensity of the symptoms, severity of the illness and the time of your illness as well. This means that you will not be feeling the symptoms as worse if you take the medication.

 

Although sometimes people also get confused between the symptoms of flu, cold, allergies and coronavirus, it is important to know the difference between these diseases

 

Conclusion:

To keep yourself healthy as hail during this winter, make sure you take good care of yourself by taking immunity promoting foods and avoiding getting infected by consuming anything that might harm your immunity. The differences between stomach flu, influenza and normal allergies might be clear by this article but you need to consider that all of these diseases can harm the immunity of a human at varying degrees.

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