Flu

[idun]

On french news the other night they were talking about a flu epidemic, and yet no one has mentioned it on here.

I have had trouble getting in touch with one of my friends in France and did so today and they said that they had had la grippe, and been very ill with it and took a couple of week to really get over it, hence, my problems getting in touch. They told me they knew of lots of people who have had it too, including quite a few people I know well.

Here, there has been a really bad cold doing the rounds, with a nasty 'keep you awake' cough. People I know who don' t usually go down with anything got it. But not la grippe, a very bad cold, as no temerature with it, although some ended up with bronchitis, I didn't. And I had the darned thing for nearly 6 weeks.  No one has mentioned getting the flu though.

I took it that if it were mentioned on french news that there was really a flue epidemic, has there been?

[Gardengirl]

There have been articles about flu in local newspapers over the past few weeks, with one of the three local hospitals, Nimes CHU, on red alert at times as so many patients were there with flu. I thought an epidemic was declared in February, with about 2 million cases reached, and remember hearing that the epidemic had not reached its peak.

I know quite a few people who have had it, one was pretty ill for 5 weeks; she said last week that she had been quite sure she was going to die.

I thought there had been much higher numbers of flu generally this year as the flu jab didn't include the strain that is causing the high incidence of flu this year, and which disproportionately affects the elderly.

[Pommier]

We (and almost everyone we know) have had a wretched cold which has hung on for several weeks, but I don't know anyone who's had flu this year (other than man flu!)

[mint]

For the first time in our lives ever, and we are both a good age, we had the winter vomitting bug. I was ill for a good 2 weeks, OH for about a week.

That was last month.  Now we both have that nasty keep you awake cough that id talks about.  It's been so bad that, for 3 nights I kept awake with OH as he struggled for breath.  I was afraid to fall asleep in case he stopped breathing altogether.  This is a hangover from when I thought he'd had his chips in 2013.  Just makes me jittery when he has that heavy, noisy, laboured breathing that people about to breathe their last exhibit.

For me, the cough has been such that the doctor has put me back on the higher dose asthma inhaler that I used to be on.  I really feel that I have had a bit of a setback after managing perfectly well on the lower dose inhaler for 6 months.

As every year, we have had our flu jabs but, with that stomach bug, we felt we had the flu; aching limbs, temperature, tirednes, loss of appetite, etc.

We both lost about half a stone each over the week or so when we felt like death.

Now we are getting back to normal but at snail's pace and still very tired and falling asleep in the day time, something we never do in the normal course of events.

[idun]

Oh dear mint, you've both been in the wars.

I pay great attention to all bugs that are going round as I try and make sure that my Dad escapes them. And touch wood, this winter he has!

I have to admit that sometimes I have wondered what the point in going to bed was with the keep me awake cough, ending up so propped up with pillows that I may as well have been up in a comfy seat in front of the fire. And paying attention to the doses of cough mix, well, I haven't. I used to like Sirop Pectoral by Vicks in France, used to find that efficace!

[Cendrillon]

I had a dose of "man flu" for me or was it "lady flu"? whatever, I had a raging sore throat, sort of recovered then lost my voice for 3 whole days. All I could manage was a slight croak but that was all and resorted to writing things on a bit of paper. This has never happened to me before.[+o(]

 Still coughing but much better now.

Thank heaven for the internet, text messaging and T.V. [:)]

[NormanH]

I am vaccinated every year, but apperently this year they predicted the wrong strain of virus so the vaccine isn't very effective...

[Val_2]

My son's girlfriend is off with flu until end of the week currently. Being a primary school teacher she is very prone to being infected with just about everything going and even has to apply lacquer to her hair every morning and lunchtime to combat catching head lice! The papers up here have been reporting a flu epidemic but I don't know anyone locally who has caught it, most folks seem to be off work with sciatica,slipped discs,sprains and breaks these days! BTW, the girlfriend works in Perpignan area.

[Patf]

I had the cough bug for nearly 2 months, from early Dec. Like you, Mint, my doctor thought it was partly allergy and gave me antihistamines. I have an asthma spray too. He said the cough was "partout." Husband never had it (he has other things.)

I wondered if it could be a mild form of whooping cough, and others have suggested that too. I was never vaccinated against it, never had it in childhood either.

Flu - can't comment, don't tempt Providence.

[idun]

I don't think it was whooping cough, not asthma for most of us, just a tres sale virus, so I take it many of us have had very disturbed nights over the last few months with this horrible cough.

[Daft Doctor]

Fact is that whereas most viral or bacterial chest infections are over and done with within a couple of weeks at most, occasionally the infection can cause the airways to become more sensitive, so called 'bronchial hypersensitivity'. In these cases, the cough can go on for several weeks or even months, even though the infection which caused it initially has long gone. In those cases (perhaps 1 in 20 of the large number of infections I used to see in winter), a short course of a steroid inhaler or even oral steroids for 5-7 days would usually put it to rest.

[Val_2]

A damp house too will cause a chesty cough especially if you dry wet washing indoors. Many folks complain about bad coughs here in Bretagne but again, many live in very damp old houses which are never heated or ventilated properly to start with.