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Impact-of-Influenza

Impact on adults

In absolute terms, otherwise healthy adults (aged 15–64 years) are the largest single group of people affected by influenza. [1] The debilitating nature of the illness means that even these patients may be confined to bed for 3–4 days, [2] and affected by a persistent cough and general malaise for about 2 weeks. During the acute phase of the illness most patients will be unable to attend work, which may result in a loss of income and impact on other aspects of family life.

Complications

Eight percent of otherwise healthy adults develop complications of influenza, [1] which may include pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis, bronchitis, myocarditis and encephalitis. [1, 3] 
Following influenza infection, pneumonia may be caused by:

  • the influenza virus (primary influenza viral pneumonia) – an uncommon complication of influenza which is associated with a high risk of death
  • a bacterial infection that occurs when the immune defences are reduced by influenza (secondary bacterial pneumonia).

Secondary bacterial pneumonia is the most frequent complication of influenza. [4] Symptoms generally appear as patients are recovering from their influenza illness and include:

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