Flu is also deadly! Be careful of these flu complications

48-year-old Taiwanese actress

Died of influenza complicated by pneumonia

This news has attracted widespread attention

It reminds us once again:

Flu ≠ Common Cold

In severe cases, it can be life-threatening

Flu VS Cold, How to Quickly Identify?

Influenza (flu) is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by influenza virus. Human influenza virus is an RNA virus belonging to the family Orthomyxoviridae. It is divided into four types according to antigenic type: A, B, C, and D. Influenza A and B viruses are seasonally prevalent every year. Among them, influenza A virus is the most likely to mutate and can cause a global pandemic ; influenza B and C are relatively stable and rarely cause large-scale transmission; influenza D mainly infects animals.

The most accurate way to identify whether you are infected with influenza is to conduct pathogen testing (such as viral antigen testing, viral nucleic acid testing), but in daily life, you can also make a preliminary judgment based on symptoms.

Image source: Huashan Infection

⚠️Influenza has an acute onset. If you experience symptoms such as high fever (>39℃), difficulty breathing, chest pain, confusion, etc., please seek medical attention as soon as possible!

The World Health Organization estimates that influenza causes 3 million to 5 million severe illnesses and 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory disease-related deaths each year worldwide.

Beware of these flu complications!

Influenza is usually self-limiting (gradually improving and recovering through autoimmunity). However, a small number of patients may develop severe/critical cases due to complications such as pneumonia or worsening of underlying diseases.

People at high risk of influenza:

Children under 5 years old, seniors over 65 years old

Pregnant women and people within 2 weeks after giving birth

People with chronic diseases (such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease)

Pneumonia is the most common complication of influenza and is typically manifested by cough with dyspnea, tachypnea (> 24 breaths/minute), hypoxia, and fever (> 3 days).

In addition to pneumonia, you should also be careful about these complications of influenza:

Cardiac complications : myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, heart failure, account for about 12% of influenza in adults, but influenza myocarditis and pericarditis are rare.

Damage to the nervous system : Children and epilepsy patients are prone to epileptic seizures. In rare cases, influenza can cause encephalitis, cerebrovascular disease, etc.

Muscle damage : Children are more likely to develop severe myositis and rhabdomyolysis (severe myalgia, weakness, dark urine). Although myalgia is a prominent feature of influenza, true myositis is uncommon.

Toxic shock : Some healthy people may also experience shock symptoms due to secondary toxigenic staphylococcal infection.

Co-infection : including pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, aspergillosis, etc. Be vigilant for influenza patients who have a fever for more than 3 to 5 days, who have a fever again after the fever subsides, or whose symptoms continue to worsen after 3 to 5 days of illness.

How is the flu treated?

Seize the golden 48 hours!

Experts remind: The golden time for treatment of influenza is within 48 hours after onset .

If influenza is confirmed, especially in high-risk groups, antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and mabaloxavir should be used within 48 hours. Studies have shown that early use of antiviral drugs can reduce the risk of severe illness and death by 70%.

Oseltamivir is currently the most commonly used anti-influenza drug. It is a class of neuraminidase inhibitors that can prevent the release and spread of viral particles. Zanamivir and peramivir have similar therapeutic effects. Mabaloxavir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor. These antiviral drugs can block viral replication.

How to prevent influenza?

Vaccination is the way to go!

For children, the elderly, pregnant women or high-risk groups with underlying diseases, annual influenza vaccination is the most effective preventive measure.

September and October each year are usually the best time to get the flu vaccine. If you miss it, you can still get the vaccine throughout the flu season, but the protective effect may be reduced.

Influenza viruses are prone to mutation, and the World Health Organization monitors virus mutations and updates vaccine ingredients to ensure that the vaccine is effective against prevalent strains. Therefore, influenza vaccines need to be administered every year .

It takes 2 to 4 weeks for sufficient antibodies to be produced after influenza vaccination, and the protection period is about 6 to 8 months. Vaccination before the arrival of the influenza season each year can effectively reduce the risk of infection and severe illness.

I wish you all good health in the new year!

References

[1] http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1689/1857 [2] China Influenza Surveillance Report. Week 9, 2023

Author: Zhu Linjun, deputy chief physician, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Pudong Central Hospital

Planning & Editing: Little Dandelion