Symptoms and Treatment

If you are ill with flulike symptoms, such as fever, cough, sore throat and body aches, stay home. If symptoms worsen, contact your health-care provider. Purdue students may contact the student health center at 765-494-1700 or go to the center's urgent-care entrance off University Street.

The incubation period for the flu is normally 24-48 hours, and the contagious period lasts for seven days after the onset of symptoms. If you are a student and contract this strain of flu, alert your professor that you will be absent for that period and provide a medical release upon returning.

Basic flu symptoms include fever, cough/sore throat, fatigue and body aches. Symptoms calling for action vary by age. For infants and children, look for:

* Fast or troubled breathing

* Bluish skin color

* Not drinking enough fluids

* Not waking or interacting

* Being so irritable that the child doesn't want to be held

* Flulike symptoms that improve but then return with fever and a worse cough

* Fever with a rash 

For adults, look for:

* Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

* Pain or pressure in chest or abdomen

* Sudden dizziness

* Confusion

* Severe or persistent vomiting

CDC recommends the use of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or zanamivir (Relenza) for the treatment and/or prevention of infection. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines (pills, liquid or an inhaler) If you get sick, such antiviral drugs can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious flu complications. For treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started soon after getting sick (within 2 days of symptoms).