Forward it to everyone! How does the course of influenza change？

There are many respiratory diseases in children in winter, among which influenza virus is one of the common pathogens. What are the typical symptoms of influenza? How does the flu spread and how long is the incubation period of the flu?

1. What are the typical symptoms of influenza?
Children infected with influenza virus can show fever, chills, headache, myalgia and other general malaise, often accompanied by respiratory diseases, such as cough, sore throat and runny nose.
The degree of fever in young children may be heavier, and some children may also have febrile convulsions; In addition, they will have more gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and poor appetite.
A very small number of children infected with influenza may develop into severe influenza, causing laryngitis, pneumonia, encephalopathy, myocarditis and so on.

2. How does the flu spread and how long is the incubation period?
Influenza virus can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets (such as sneezing, coughing and talking) or after polluting the surface of objects.
Influenza viruses can also spread through small air particles released by influenza patients when they breathe. Influenza patients are the main source of infection.
The incubation period of influenza is generally 1~7 days, and most of them are 2~4 days.

3. How long is the general course of influenza and what is the change of the course?
For children without basic diseases, the course of influenza virus infection is acute and self-limited, and most symptoms disappear within 2~3 days after onset. Some children’s fever lasts for 5 days, and most of them recover within 1 week. However, cough may last for a long time, and the fatigue of a few older children (over seven or eight years old) may last for several weeks.

4. How to distinguish the flu from the common cold?
The full name of the flu is called "influenza", and you may think it is similar to the common cold, but the flu and the common cold cannot be confused.
The common cold can be caused by many pathogens, among which viruses are the most common, including rhinovirus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, etc. Bacteria and mycoplasma can also cause the common cold.
The symptoms of the common cold are mild, usually low-to-moderate fever, which lasts for 1-2 days, and may be accompanied by symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, stuffy nose and slight cough, while systemic symptoms such as chills, headache and joint muscle pain are very mild. Generally, there are no serious complications.
Influenza is mainly caused by influenza A and B virus infection, with high fever, shivering, headache, joint muscle pain and other systemic symptoms. A few influenza patients may have complications such as rhabdomyolysis, pneumonia, encephalitis and encephalopathy.
In the flu season, children with flu-like symptoms, especially those with a history of contact with influenza patients, should first consider influenza virus infection, which can be diagnosed by influenza virus antigen detection or influenza virus nucleic acid detection. (Healthy China)