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Symptoms

Information for parents

Children: flu’s favourite target

Did you know that children are up to three times more likely to get flu than adults? [1] This high infection rate is thought to occur because – compared with adults – children have had less lifetime exposure to flu and, therefore, have lower natural immunity. Combined with the fact that young children are regularly in close contact with others in daycare, nurseries and school, this increases the risk of them getting and spreading the virus.

Flu hits children hard. It is distressing and painful and can lead to serious complications, hospitalisation and even death. School children tend to catch flu early in the season and are infectious for longer than adults. Research shows that the occurrence of flu in families with school children is double that of families without children in school or daycare. [2]
Luckily, there are treatments that can shorten the duration of flu illness – and help prevent it altogether. Be on the look-out for flu symptoms, so you can act fast:

  • Rapid onset of fever
  • Dry cough
  • Chills
  • Muscle aches
  • Headaches
  • Extreme tiredness.

Additional symptoms of flu that are common in young children include a runny nose and stomach problems, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. [3, 4]

Think your child has flu?

Misdiagnosis means that children with flu do not receive the right treatment to fight the virus – so they are ill for longer and at risk of developing complications. There is also an increased risk of spreading the virus to others around them.

If you think your child has flu, it is important to act fast! You need to see your doctor as soon as possible after symptoms start if your child is to get the most effective treatment available. You can only get this treatment with a prescription from your doctor. Your doctor will also be able to suggest ways to prevent flu from spreading to the rest of the family.

  1. Monto AS, Sullivan KM. Acute respiratory illness in the community. Frequency of illness and the agents involved. Epidemiol Infect 1993; 110: 145–60.
  2. Taber LH, Paredes A, Glezen WP, Couch RB. Infection with influenza A/Victoria virus in Houston families, 1976. J Hyg (Lond) 1981; 86: 303–13.
  3. Nicholson K. Human influenza. In: Nicholson K, Webster RG, Hay A, eds. Textbook of influenza. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science, 1998: 219–64.
  4. Poehling KA, Edwards KM, Weinberg GA, et al. The under-recognized burden of influenza in young children. N Engl J Med 2006; 355: 31–40.
  • "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"