Symptoms of a viral infection depend on where you're infected, but some common ones include: Flu-like symptoms: fever, head and body aches, fatigue. Upper respiratory symptoms: sore throat, cough, sneezing. Digestive symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
A viral infection usually lasts only a week or two. But when you're feeling rotten, this can seem like a long time! Here are some tips to help ease symptoms and get better faster: Rest.
The good news is that viral infections usually aren't serious. Most will go away in a few days without medical treatment. In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to make yourself more comfortable. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety.
Antiviral medications help the body fight off harmful viruses. The drugs can ease symptoms and shorten the length of a viral infection. Antivirals also lower the risk of getting or spreading viruses that cause herpes and HIV.
The virus life cycle can be divided into three stages—entry, genome replication, and exit (Fig. 3.1 ).
Bacterial Infections
Symptoms persist longer than the expected 10-14 days a virus tends to last. Fever is higher than one might typically expect from a virus. Fever gets worse a few days into the illness rather than improving.
The drugs used for viral infection are Acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex) are effective against herpesvirus, including herpes zoster and herpes genitalis. Drugs used for treatment for viral fever are Acetaminophen(Tylenolothers)ibuprofen (Advil,motrin IB others).
Coughing and sneezing. Contact with infected people, especially through kissing and sex. Contact with contaminated surfaces, food, and water. Contact with infected creatures, including pets, livestock, and insects such as fleas and ticks.
How the immune system reacts to viruses. The immune system reacts to the injury of these bodily cells by revving up, causing symptoms such as fever and chills. While we sometimes worry about running a fever, an elevated temperature generally is considered a protective response that works to destroy invasive microbes.
Viruses make us sick by killing cells or disrupting cell function. Our bodies often respond with fever (heat inactivates many viruses), the secretion of a chemical called interferon (which blocks viruses from reproducing), or by marshaling the immune system's antibodies and other cells to target the invader.
The most common cause of a sore throat (pharyngitis) is a viral infection, such as a cold or the flu. A sore throat caused by a virus resolves on its own. Strep throat (streptococcal infection), a less common type of sore throat caused by bacteria, requires treatment with antibiotics to prevent complications.
For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight off the virus. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections.
Are viral infections contagious? Yes, nearly all viral infections are contagious (can spread from person to person). Viruses need to infect living things to reproduce, so human viruses survive by spreading between people.
Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics if the symptoms are severe and include high fever along with nasal drainage and a productive cough. Antibiotics may also be necessary if you feel better after a few days and then your symptoms return or if the infection lasts more than a week.
Stage 2 of a cold is days four through seven. Many people find that their symptoms get worse and peak during this time. It is not uncommon for your sore throat to disappear quickly after it starts. You may develop a fever, but this is more common in children than adults.
Antibiotics DO NOT work on viruses, such as those that cause colds, flu, or COVID-19. Antibiotics also are not needed for many sinus infections and some ear infections. When antibiotics aren't needed, they won't help you, and the side effects could still cause harm.
If you don't stop that infection, it can cause sepsis. Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also be a result of other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza, or fungal infections.