THE FLU - SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
Symptoms
Flu symptoms come on very quickly and can include:
Cold and flu symptoms are similar, but flu tends to be more severe.
Flu | Cold |
Appears quickly within a few hours | Appears gradually |
Affects more than just your nose and throat | Affects mainly your nose and throat |
Makes you feel exhausted and too unwell to carry on as normal | Makes you feel unwell, but you're OK to carry on as normal (for example, go to work |
How to treat flu yourself
To help you get better more quickly:
A pharmacist can help with flu
A pharmacist can give treatment advice and recommend flu remedies.
Be careful not to use them if you're taking paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets as it's easy to take more than the recommended dose.
See your GP if:
GPs don't recommend antibiotics for flu because they won't relieve your symptoms or speed up your recovery.
How to avoid spreading the flu
Flu is very infectious and easily spread to other people. You're more likely to give it to others in the first 5 days.
Flu is spread by germs from coughs and sneezes, which can live on hands and surfaces for 24 hours.
To reduce the risk of spreading flu: