Flu advice
It is important to confine yourself or your child to bed. With the onset of a full-blown flu, you will be unable to lift your head from the pillow, such is its disabling effect. Take plenty of fluids to counteract the initial high temperature. Paracetamol will help reduce severe aches and pains.
There are two antiviral drugs that can shorten the course of flu infection licensed for use in the Republic. Both drugs reduce the replication of the influenza virus and are licensed for treatment when used within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. In otherwise healthy people they reduce its duration.
Oseltamivir (taken orally) is licensed by the Irish Medicines Board for use in adults and children over the age of 13 to prevent influenza following contact with a person who has been diagnosed with the flu at a time when the virus is known to be circulating in the community. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence in Britain recommends the use of oseltamivir for at-risk children who can start treatment within 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms. Oseltamivir is taken twice daily for five days. At risk children are defined as those with the following conditions:
a) chronic respiratory disease
b) chronic kidney disease
c) significant cardiac disease
d) a suppressed immune system
e) diabetes mellitus
If you or your child develop unusual symptoms, for example coughing up blood or a pain in your lungs localised to a particular area, then you should seek immediate medical advice.
Coughing up a green or yellow phlegm suggests the possibility of a secondary bacterial chest infection. Unlike the flu, this requires treatment with antibiotics and is another reason to seek medical assistance. Children with flu have a higher risk of febrile convulsions because of the associated high temperature. ...
