# Swine flu symptoms please



## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

In another thread it has been suggested that it is dangerous for someone who has had contact with swine flu to have the injection.

Last week my OH had what he thought was swine flu. He didn't seem terribly ill and as it was the weekend he kept to his bed and seems fine now.

We are both due to have the injection when it is available at our surgery as he is immunologically compromised. We're now wondering if I should and he needs to.

If anyone has had confirmed swine flu then we'd be interested in what the symptoms were.


G


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## hero (Oct 31, 2009)

*Swine flue info*

Hi Grizzly,i ve just got over it,symptoms were high temperature,bad throat dry cough, very hard to swallow,aching every where,knocks you for six,if you think you got it you can ring the nation swain flu no on 0800 1513100 for a assestment,they tell you after talking to you if you have it or not,i copied a bit from their web page Swine flu is the common name given to a new strain of influenza (flu). It is called swine flu because it is thought to have originated in pigs, but this is not certain.

People with swine flu typically have a fever or high temperature (over 38°C) and may also have aching muscles, sore throat and/or a dry cough (see Symptoms). In other words, the symptoms are very similar to seasonal (regular) flu. Most people recover within a week, even without special treat
good luck Matt


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## CaGreg (Mar 28, 2007)

I heard a medical specialist on the radio here say that people who have already had swine flu should still have the vaccination. Presumably without specific lab tests, nobody can be 100% sure that it is H1N1 so maybe that is the reason.
I have been in close, and very close contact with swine flu and had the vaccine earlier this week. No problems apart from the very sore arm.
Check with your Dept of Health website or some such.

Ca


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

People who are immunonlogically compromised are in the highest priority for the vaccine, as are those that live with them in order to prevent that person giving the diseaseto the compromised person.

I found that I had a sore arm and felt unwell that night, 2 x paracetamol (500mg) worked for me and I felt OK the following morning.

I would recommend having it, the vaccination is much less serious than the possible consequences - over 200 have died in the UK so far.

Dave


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## ardgour (Mar 22, 2008)

If it is my reply you are referring to - I was only talking about the time immediately after you are in close contact (first few days after close and prolonged contact) when if you have picked up the virus your body is already trying to fight it and a vaccine won't have time to give you immunity. As has already been said the only way to know if someone has had swine flu is a blood test and these are not being done routinely but the research I mentioned would suggest that an awful lot of cases diagnosed by symptoms alone were actually a different virus. So this is a long way of saying no it is not more dangerous to have the vaccine (as far as we know) but in the first couple of days after contact it is not a good idea as you may already be incubating an illness.

Chris


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Thanks everyone; mind firmly made up- we'll go ahead and have it when called.

G


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

A third of a large number of kids blood tests revealed that they had already had swine flu without anyone realising it. Swine flu is not new at all, merely the same H1N strain first found in the middle of the 19th century and is the base of all major epidemics of flu so far I believe. All the different names really are different varients of the same base virus.

The big Spanish flu epidemic finished only because the virus moderated to a more benign version so it can mutate both ways.

I wonder if having a vaccination after having swine flu whether that gives the virus the opportnity to learn and mutate in a new form.

If it does then the next flu epidemic will be called the Grizzly Flu.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Pusser said:


> If it does then the next flu epidemic will be called the Grizzly Flu.


Believe me Pusser, if I get it, then it will be _ very_ grizzly flu !

At least 3 of my relatives died in the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak. One case was my great aunt and her baby son. By all accounts they were terrifying times to live through but they didn't have the media to stir up the fear to quite the pitch we have now.

G


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> Pusser said:
> 
> 
> > If it does then the next flu epidemic will be called the Grizzly Flu.
> ...


I think they were terrifying times even without taking the flu into consideration. I was so lucky being born after the war. (First person to say Boer War gets an abusive PM )


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## MrsW (Feb 8, 2009)

Grizzly said:


> In another thread it has been suggested that it is dangerous for someone who has had contact with swine flu to have the injection.
> 
> Last week my OH had what he thought was swine flu. He didn't seem terribly ill and as it was the weekend he kept to his bed and seems fine now.
> 
> ...


Better late than never! If your OH only took to his bed for the weekend he did not have swine flu, but more likely a viral infection of which there are many. True influenza, either seasonal flu or the H1N1 strain will keep you in bed for at least a week. Some are so poorly they can't even get out of bed. I suspect he had "man flu", an affliction that can be caught by either gender and which lays one low for a couple of days. In my job (as a Nurse Advisor for NHS Direct) I speak to many who are suffering from "man flu", and the good news is it is short lived. The bad news is that it will build no immunity for H1N1 or seasonal flu.


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

MrsW said:


> The bad news is that it will build no immunity for H1N1 or seasonal flu.


My nephew was very ill for 3 weeks, two weeks of which he only had fluid and lost 3 stone in weight. Still has been left with a cough. He had to sleep sitting up because of lung congestion and at times, was coughing pink gunge. I thought he should have been hosptialised but docs did not want him in hospital. Needless to say he is in late teens and as fit as a fiddle. (Was).

He did not have Tamiflu as his mother who has a medical background did not feel it appropriate. Not sure that was the correct decision.

Could you have a word with DTP Chemicals as NHS Direct won't talk to him and now we have a resident NHS direct to ourselves the membership can come straight to you.  Cut out the middle nurse so to speak.


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