Tis the season for turkey trots, Black Friday sales and fighting over the last piece of pumpkin pie. Oh, and the flu.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3% to 11% of people in the U.S. have to deal with the flu each year, with an average of 8% getting sick. And while the flu vaccine is a must, it still only reduces your flu risk by 40% to 60%, meaning its not a complete safeguard depending on your health, age and the type of flu virus you contract. (If you do contract the flu after youve gotten a flu shot, the vaccine will lessen the severity of symptoms and help prevent against flu-related complications like pneumonia. So its still important to get it.)
Here, flu experts share what happens once youre exposed to the flu including why it triggers some of those unpleasant symptoms like fevers, aches and chills. Read on to learn, plus get some guidance on how to stay as protected as possible this flu season.
First, the flu has to find a way to get into your body
Simply being in the house with someone who has the flu wont get you sick, but it can definitely increase your risk factor if youre not practicing proper hand-washing hygiene.
The virus has to find a way to get into either your nose or mouth, said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Its usually transmitted from person to person through coughing, sneezing, or mucus or saliva that might be on someones hands. It can also be transmitted from common surfaces that people may touch. They may have wiped their nose and then touched their hands before putting it on a surface or may have sneezed on the surface.
Your eyes and ears may be access sites as well, but Adalja said these are far less common entry points, so make sure you wash your hands often and well during flu season to prevent the virus from infecting you to begin with.
You wont have symptoms right away once the virus enters your system
Once the virus enters your nose or mouth through direct contact (like being sneezed on, yuck) or indirect (such as using a towel shortly after an infected person has previously used it) the virus will make its way to your immune system, but this wont happen immediately.
Once the flu gets into your body, it will set up shop and cause the same infection in you, said Aaron Glatt, chairman of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Hewlett, New York. The incubation period is about one to four days. On average two days, but it is still a highly contagious disease during this time.
This means that you could be asymptomatic for a day or two but very much able to spread the flu to others without even knowing it.
torwai via Getty Images
Once the flu settles in, its heading for your cells
Specifically, the virus goes to your respiratory epithelial cells, which line your respiratory tract.
The virus binds to sialic acids that are on these cells, and these sialic acids function as receptors to help the cells signal and communicate to each other, Adalja explained.
The virus is able to bind to these cells thanks to a protein called hemagglutinin (which is what the H stands for in flu strains like H1N1). With the help of this protein, the virus attaches itself to the cell and then gets inside the cell, which will send an alarm to your immune system.
Some flu symptoms are from an immune system response
After your immune system figures out theres a virus inside the body, it will go into overdrive to get it out as quickly as possible.
As part of that, the immune response will start to ramp up some of the symptoms that you feel. Fevers, muscle aches and pains are the result of certain chemicals being secreted by the immune system in order to fight that virus off, Adalja said, adding that a quarter of people with the flu have no symptoms. This doesnt mean your immune system isnt working, its just how you clinically present the virus.
Basically, your body becomes a battlefield when you have the flu and the reason you feel so terrible is from the war between the pathogen and your immune system, Adalja said.
Prostock-Studio via Getty Images
The average shelf life of the virus is about a week
Most healthy people have self-limited disease, Glatt said. They get sick for a couple days, or some people dont get very sick at all. Other people get a mild illness or more moderate illness for a couple of days or a week or two at most.
The standard run-of-the-mill flu in a healthy person typically doesnt require treatment but certain groups are at a higher risk of developing complications from the flu including pregnant women, those with certain underlying diseases, children less than 12 months old, or adults over the age of 65.
Glatt said for these groups especially, its important to make an appointment with a physician as soon as flu symptoms come on. Theyll be able to prescribe an appropriate antiviral medication to help relieve symptoms and clear the virus out of your body as fast as possible. (This is also good general advice, as doctors can prescribe medications like Tamiflu to help reduce the severity and length of the illness.)
Other than that, get lots of rest, drink fluids and monitor your symptoms. While you may be miserable for a few days, your body will fight the flu the best it can.
Read this article:
This Is Your Body On The Flu - HuffPost
- Technion team discovers important adaptive strategy of the microbiome, impacting immune system - The Jerusalem Post - April 16th, 2024
- Targeting aging and age-related diseases with vaccines - Nature.com - April 16th, 2024
- Single cell analysis unveils B cell-dominated immune subtypes in HNSCC for enhanced prognostic and therapeutic ... - Nature.com - April 16th, 2024
- After the Smoke Clears: Scars on the Immune System - The Scientist - April 16th, 2024
- Exercise and the Immune System: What's the Latest Research? - Technology Networks - April 16th, 2024
- Analysis of immune cell infiltration characteristics in severe acute pancreatitis through integrated bioinformatics ... - Nature.com - April 16th, 2024
- Vaccination impairs de novo immune response to omicron breakthrough infection, a precondition for the original ... - Nature.com - April 16th, 2024
- Harnessing the power of the body's own cells to defeat cancer - Press Publications Inc. - April 16th, 2024
- Best Life: Immunotherapy targets brain cancer - Action News 5 - April 16th, 2024
- Dietary factors and their influence on immunotherapy strategies in oncology: a comprehensive review | Cell Death ... - Nature.com - April 16th, 2024
- New insights on B cells: Researchers explore building better antibodies and curbing autoimmune diseases - Medical Xpress - April 16th, 2024
- Immune cells' intense reaction to the coronavirus may lead to pneumonia - Science News Magazine - April 16th, 2024
- The telltale traces long Covid leaves in the blood - healthcare-in-europe.com - April 16th, 2024
- Overview of the Immune System - The Merck Manuals - March 18th, 2024
- SUNDAY Unraveling The Gut-Brain Connection: How Infant Gut Bacteria Shape Immune Resilience | TheHealthSit - TheHealthSite - March 18th, 2024
- Making drugs from T cells: The quantitative pharmacology of engineered T cell therapeutics | npj Systems Biology and ... - Nature.com - March 18th, 2024
- Study unlocks the mystery of neonatal neutropenia in newborns - News-Medical.Net - March 18th, 2024
- Vertebral Subluxation and Systems Biology: An Integrative Review Exploring the Salutogenic Influence of Chiropractic ... - Cureus - March 18th, 2024
- A new strategy to attack aggressive brain cancer shrank tumors in two early tests - ABC News - March 18th, 2024
- Turning on the Bat Signal - The Scientist - March 18th, 2024
- Power Foods That Can Support Your Immune System - Videos from The Weather Channel - The Weather Channel - March 18th, 2024
- Report: Aggressive brain tumors respond to new, immune-focused therapy - UPI News - March 18th, 2024
- Designer immune-cell therapy could shrink deadly brain tumors, early trials show - Livescience.com - March 18th, 2024
- 20.2: Introduction to the Immune System - Biology LibreTexts - February 27th, 2024
- Can one shot of yoghurt really boost your immunity and gut health? - Daily Mail - February 27th, 2024
- New cancer therapy approved by FDA supercharges bodys immune system - The Washington Post - February 27th, 2024
- How bubonic plague rewired the human immune system - BBC.com - February 27th, 2024
- Innovative therapy targets and destroys leukemia stem cells - News-Medical.Net - February 27th, 2024
- Participate in Our Study for $100; Open Slots This Week - University of Arkansas Newswire - February 27th, 2024
- Sexual dimorphism during integrative endocrine and immune responses to ionizing radiation in mice | Scientific Reports - Nature.com - February 27th, 2024
- Comprehensive pan-cancer analysis identifies the RNA-binding protein LRPPRC as a novel prognostic and immune ... - ScienceDirect.com - February 27th, 2024
- YOUR HEALTH: The HAMR fights cancer - WAFB - February 27th, 2024
- Cycles of a diet that mimics fasting can reduce signs of immune system aging, as well as insulin resistance and liver fat - News-Medical.Net - February 27th, 2024
- How the powerhouse of the cell could be cancers Achilles heel - Freethink - February 27th, 2024
- Food is medicine: The science behind zinc and other supplements for immune health - Healio - February 27th, 2024
- Unleashing Our Immune Response to Quash Cancer - Medscape - February 27th, 2024
- Tumor histoculture captures the dynamic interactions between tumor and immune components in response to anti-PD1 ... - Nature.com - February 27th, 2024
- Converging and evolving immuno-genomic routes toward immune escape in breast cancer - Nature.com - February 27th, 2024
- Sanjula Jain Urges a Comprehensive Approach in Address Alarming Rise in Cancer Cases Among Younger Populations - Managed Healthcare Executive - February 27th, 2024
- Cystic fibrosis breakthrough points to zinc as infection buster - New Atlas - February 27th, 2024
- Exploring synergies between B- and T-cell vaccine approaches to optimize immune responses against HIVworkshop ... - Nature.com - February 27th, 2024
- Is the 100-year old TB vaccine a new weapon against Alzheimers? - The Guardian - February 27th, 2024
- Immune system in the blood of Alzheimer's patients found to be epigenetically altered - News-Medical.Net - February 10th, 2024
- What impact does exercise have on your immune system? And how to stay well while cycling - BikeRadar - February 10th, 2024
- Had COVID recently? Here's what to know about how long immunity lasts, long COVID, and more - AAMC - February 10th, 2024
- Noor Momin harnesses the immune system to treat heart disease | Penn Today - Penn Today - February 10th, 2024
- Research reveals a process tumors use to induce immune suppressor cells and evade immunotherapy - Medical Xpress - February 10th, 2024
- Immune targeting of HIV-1 reservoir cells: a path to elimination strategies and cure - Nature.com - February 10th, 2024
- Preventing severe allergic reactions with nanoparticles - National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov) - February 10th, 2024
- Sugary handshakes are how cells talk to each other understanding these name tags can clarify how the immune ... - The Conversation Indonesia - February 10th, 2024
- Scientists have identified an immune cell that can cause allergies - EL PAS USA - February 10th, 2024
- Sickle cell and the importance of the immune system - Punch Newspapers - February 10th, 2024
- Which cancers can be treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors? - MD Anderson Cancer Center - February 10th, 2024
- How does waste leave the brain? Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - February 10th, 2024
- Healthy Kids: Give your immune system a boost to stay healthy this winter - nbc16.com - February 10th, 2024
- The impact of prior exposure to hypoglycaemia on the inflammatory response to a subsequent hypoglycaemic episode ... - Cardiovascular Diabetology - February 10th, 2024
- Impact of Chronic Stress on Immune System and Depression | Health News - Medriva - February 10th, 2024
- I tried 'swamp soup,' the viral recipe that promises to boost your immune system - Yahoo News - February 10th, 2024
- Understanding Immune Checkpoint Inhibition Therapy: Challenges and Strategies - Medriva - February 10th, 2024
- One Simple Change May Dramatically Boost The Effect of COVID-19 Vaccines - ScienceAlert - February 10th, 2024
- The gut virome is associated with stress-induced changes in behaviour and immune responses in mice - Nature.com - February 10th, 2024
- Cancer vaccines are in the works to fight BRCA-linked gene mutations - The Philadelphia Inquirer - February 10th, 2024
- What are the organs of the immune system? - InformedHealth.org - NCBI ... - January 17th, 2024
- Novel insights into the immune response to bacterial T cell superantigens - Nature.com - January 17th, 2024
- FDA signs off on Takeda's HyQvia as maintenance therapy for CIDP - FiercePharma - January 17th, 2024
- CBDs Pobezinsky and Pobezinskaya Use Flow Cytometry to Determine How Tumor Cells Outwit the Bodys Immune ... - UMass News and Media Relations - January 17th, 2024
- Boosting. What To Do. - Science Based Medicine - January 17th, 2024
- Axelia Oncology takes its TLR2/6 agonist into the clinic to harness the innate immune system - BioWorld Online - January 17th, 2024
- Long COVID manifests with T cell dysregulation, inflammation and an uncoordinated adaptive immune response to ... - Nature.com - January 17th, 2024
- Opinion | Thanks to mRNA, Future Drugs Will Be Easier and Faster to Make - Mississippi Free Press - January 17th, 2024
- Elon research team models the COVID immune response, one equation at a time - Today at Elon - January 17th, 2024
- Are plant-based meals good for your immune system? 4 things to know about improving your health this week. - Yahoo Life - January 17th, 2024
- Scientists Find Key To Potential Breast Cancer Prevention, Treatment | Newsroom - UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine - January 17th, 2024
- What if every germ hit you at the exact same time? An immunologist explains - The Conversation - January 17th, 2024
- Why Don't We Have a Staph Vaccine? - Healthnews.com - January 17th, 2024
- Best ways to improve your immune system - The Business Standard - January 17th, 2024
- Stanford University researchers think future pandemics could be prevented with universal vaccines - KGO-TV - January 17th, 2024
- Why you may feel depressed and anxious when you're ill and how to cope with it - The Conversation - January 17th, 2024
- New mechanism with potential to boost checkpoint-blocking cancer immunotherapies identified - Medical Xpress - January 17th, 2024
- Battling Bugs and Blues: The Interplay of Infection and Emotion - News-Medical.Net - January 17th, 2024