During these seasons with low temperatures, it is highly expected that people could get sick. For this reason, at Ciudadano ADN we had the opportunity to talk with the bronchopulmonary of the FACH Hospital and Dávila Clinic, Carolina Herreraabout the increase in the influenza virus.
“Respiratory diseases in general are clinically diagnosed“, the doctor commented at the beginning of the conversation, and then referred to how to identify a common cold from something more serious.
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Cold or flu?
Thus, Herrera explained that “if you have a case with a little distemper, you feel a little cold and cough a little, but you are functioning well, That is a cold and it is due to rhinovirus or other viruses that are in the environment.”.
“Influenza is an acute illness, with high fever, muscle pain, headache and feeling very weak and fatigued. So, we understand that they are two diseases that are clinically different. Therefore, a cold is not the same as flu or influenza,” he assured.
Along the same lines, the health professional mentioned that “it is difficult to make a discrimination only by examining the patientTherefore, one relies on the respiratory viral panel, which is a nasal swab that is available for 24 hours.”
“It is very important to have this diagnosis because It has antiviral treatment, something that other viruses do not haves,” added the health professional.
The importance of the flu vaccine
According to the bronchopulmonary clinic of Dávila Clinic, “Influenza has skyrocketed as a cause of respiratory illness in recent weeks”.
“We are talking about a disease that kills 500 thousand people in the world every year. and that also has prevention with the vaccine, which is currently being campaigned and is free,” he assured.
“We want to reach the target population, which is 80%, but we are still far from that. So, we have to get people excited to go and get immunized. Although having a flu vaccine will not mean that you will not get it because that depends on the infections you have, but you will not die from the flu, you will not have a serious condition,” the doctor added.
