skip to the content
Impact of Flu

Flu in adults

Adults (aged 15–64 years) are the largest single group of people affected by flu. [1] The debilitating nature of flu means that even these otherwise healthy people may be confined to bed for 3–4 days, [2] and affected by a persistent cough and tiredness for about 2 weeks. During this time, most patients will be unable to attend work, which may affect their monthly income and impact on their family-life.

Complications of flu in adults

Two out of 25 otherwise healthy adults develop complications of flu, which may include pneumonia, otitis media (painful infection of the ear), sinusitis, bronchitis, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). [1, 3]
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that may be caused by:

  • the flu virus itself (primary flu viral pneumonia) – an uncommon complication of flu which is associated with a high risk of death
  • a bacterial infection that occurs when someone’s immune defences are weakened because of a flu attack (secondary bacterial pneumonia).

Secondary bacterial pneumonia is the most frequent complication of flu. [4] Symptoms generally appear as you start to feel better from the initial flu illness and include:

  • high fever
  • shaking chills
  • chest pain following each breath
  • coughing that produces thick, yellowish-green coloured mucus.

Bacterial pneumonia can be a very serious and sometimes life-threatening condition; therefore, if you or a family member experiences any of these symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately.

  1. Meier CR, Napalkov PN, Wegmuller Y, Jefferson T, Jick H. Population-based study on incidence, risk factors, clinical complications and drug utilisation associated with influenza in the United Kingdom. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2000; 19: 834–42.
  2. Treanor JJ, Hayden FG, Vrooman PS, et al. Efficacy and safety of the oral neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir in treating acute influenza: a randomized controlled trial. US Oral Neuraminidase Study Group. JAMA 2000; 283: 1016–24.
  3. Banning M. Influenza: incidence, symptoms and treatment. Br J Nurs 2005; 14:
    1192–7.
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (The Pink Book). Atkinson W, Hamborsky J, McIntyre L, Wolfe S, eds. 10th ed. Washington DC: Public Health Foundation, 2007.
  • "I would describe flu as something that makes you feel very, very ill. You get a headache, aching bones, and are generally fed up"
  • "When I get flu symptoms I feel like a train has run over me"
  • "I felt very sick and, during the first week, I had high temperature. Flu was very different to a cold. I went back to work after two and a half weeks. Then I suffered a setback for another week"
  • "I run a guesthouse; flu would be a real pest for me. I couldn’t cook, I shouldn’t cook, and I wouldn’t cook, so I would need to get a lot of extra help in. It would cost me a lot more money. So flu’s a real problem, a right downturn"
  • "I work on my own and when I can’t work, I have to try not to infect my little children, so they avoid getting the flu as well"
  • "I feel a little numb, like I’m in another dimension. Because in general I have sore throat, headache, I feel all clogged-up. Usually a sensation like I’m floating in the air"
  • "Shivers, sweats, makes you ache. Last time I had flu I was off for two weeks"
  • "I think that I would probably be concerned that I would pass flu onto my children, who might not be able to deal with it as well as I would"
  • "Flu makes you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat. You don’t feel like you can get yourself out of bed as all your energy is drawn from you"
  • "I was incapable of working. It just wasn’t possible at all… and my flu dragged on for more than a week"
  • "I have no strength. It annoys me because I can do nothing, it seems like I’m wasting my time"
  • "Flu’s like being hit by a truck because you feel completely gone. There is no energy left in your body. You are suffering from high temperature. You’re sweating a lot and you feel really unwell"
  • "First of all infinite tiredness, then I feel like sleeping and don’t want to eat"
  • "I felt really miserable because my muscles and my bones were aching. Well, I can hardly describe it, I just felt really awful, absolutely miserable"
  • "It’s like there’s something huge treading on your head, like a deafening noise that destroys the eardrums"
  • "The fever was constantly rising – I immediately measured my temperature as soon as I got home. It was 41°C and it kept rising and I was wondering what’s going on. I was really scared! Everything was hurting and it all happened so fast. Flu came out of the blue"
  • "I always feel like my limbs have iron weights tied to them and I’m going to fall over any minute, a really stuffy runny nose and feel antisocial"
  • "I was totally dependent on others! I was incapable of doing anything at all"
  • "The real flu knocks you for six – you just don’t want to move or do anything. It’s not very nice"
  • "Not being able to go to work. Not being able to do the things I have to do at home and the commitments that I have day by day"