5 Flu Treatment Myths

It may be too late for you. Your fever is setting in, there are tissues all over the room, and even the dog will not lay by your side. That’s right; you’ve got THE FLU.

You may have been “too busy” to get your flu vaccine back in October because on Sunday’s you had to finalize your Fantasy line-up. (There was no way you were coming in second again this year).

Somehow, some way over the last 48 hours you have picked up the flu virus from either the office, the gym, or your son’s indoor soccer league. There are a few things that you can do to make yourself feel more comfortable while you have the flu such as: staying hydrated, enjoying some chicken soup, and turning on the cool mist humidifier. 

There are also a number of myths that have been passed down from generation to generation; co-worker to co-worker on how to fight the flu and get yourself back to work in no time. The thing is; you need your recovery time to get the flu out of your system and no longer be contagious. Here are our top five favorite flu myths:

1. Starve a fever – you need to eat healthy to become healthy once again. By not eating when you are sick, you are just making yourself worse off.
2. The flu vaccine gives you the flu – Totally not true. The virus that you recieve in the vaccine is inactive. People would not line up in droves to get a vaccine that causes them to get sick immediaely after recieving it.
3. Antibiotics cure the flu – this is incorrect because antibiotics only kill bacterial infections; and the flu is viral.
4. Once you get the flu shot you are set – you should continue with good hand hygiene practices even after you receive the flu shot. You never know what other germs are out there on high touch surfaces you interact with.
5. You can’t spread the flu before you realize your sick – It can take days or even up to a week before you realize that you are infected with the flu. You can pass the virus onto someone in the period before you are sick and during the period of time while you are displaying symptoms.

Combat the flu this year, and every year by getting your flu shot early in the season and continuing to practice good hand hygiene habits. Just because you got the flu shot, does not mean that you are exempt from catching a cold or even Norovirus from October to May.