While anyone can get influenza, some people are at higher risk of severe illness (more likely to get very sick from influenza, and may be at higher risk of needing hospital care), including: babies and children under 5 years of age. people aged 65 years and older. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Weakened immune system
An immune system that doesn't quickly clear out flu virus may raise the risk of getting the flu or getting flu complications. People may have a weakened immune system response from birth, due to illness, or due to disease treatment or medicine.
Anyone can catch 'flu; the highest rates of infection are usually in school age children. Most influenza infections occur during the winter months. The severity of illness occurring each year varies, depending on the particular strain that is circulating. Some influenza viruses cause more severe illness than others.
Even if you try your best to stay healthy when someone in the house has the flu, there's still a chance that you'll become infected.
Anyone can get flu (including healthy people), and serious problems related to flu can happen at any age, but some people are at higher risk of developing serious flu-related complications if they get sick.
He continues, “There is an active immune response which accounts for the resistance of certain people getting sick, and that response is just as active as the response we all know and hate, which is being sick with the sniffles, fever, coughing and sneezing. It's just that the responses are different.”
Most healthy children and adults with the flu can infect others beginning about one day before developing any symptoms and up to seven days after the symptoms resolve. People with weakened immune systems can remain contagious for up to several weeks.
Influenza viruses can be detected in most infected persons beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick. People with flu are most contagious during the first three days of their illness.
Remember, the virus is killed by hot temperatures, so if you do clean your sheets and towels, use the hot temperature setting instead of warm.
Survival on soft surfaces (e.g., clothing, bed sheets, pillows, upholstery): The virus typically survives for a shorter time on fabrics and porous surfaces—around 8–12 hours.
The CDC estimates that about 70-85 percent of flu-related deaths occur in adults 65 years and older. Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are also at higher risk. Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old, are at higher risk of complications from flu illness.
People with flu can be infectious from the day before their symptoms start. Adults are most infectious in the first 3-5 days of their illness. Children can remain infectious for 7-10 days. Young children and people with weakened immune systems may be infectious for longer.
The 2025-2026 season is surpassing the 2024-2025 flu epidemic, which was considered a “high severity” season by the CDC. “There's a number of metrics which show we've eclipsed where we were at last year ... hospitalizations, percent positivity rate, name your metric. It's worse this year,” says Roberts.
Airborne illnesses: Cold and Flu, Chicken Pox, Meningitis
Respiratory illnesses typically spread when we inhale droplets expelled into the air by an infected person's cough or sneeze, even by speaking. But these germs also spread by poor hand hygiene.
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The flu typically comes on suddenly—often within a few hours—and peaks quickly. You may start to feel chills or body aches one day and wake up the next morning with a full-blown fever, sore throat and congestion.
Some of the effective home remedies to manage flu include: Getting plenty of bed rest to boost immune function and ward off viruses. Drinking plenty of fluids like water or juice to flush viruses or bacteria out of the body.
Fluids are crucial when you have the flu, as fever and other symptoms can lead to dehydration. Water, herbal teas, and clear broths are excellent choices. Oral rehydration solutions like sports drinks or electrolyte-rich beverages can help replenish lost minerals.
Most people who get flu will recover in a few days to less than two weeks, but some people will develop complications (such as pneumonia) as a result of flu, some of which can be life-threatening and result in death.
Antiviral drugs can help treat flu illness
Antiviral drugs should be started as soon as possible after symptoms begin. Studies show that treatment of flu with antiviral medications works best when started within two days after flu symptoms begin and can lessen symptoms and shorten the time you are sick by about a day.
Recommended Time to Stay Home When You're Ill
You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true: Your symptoms are getting better overall, and. You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).
The signs and symptoms of flu can include fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and fatigue (tiredness). Cold symptoms are usually milder than the symptoms of flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose.
Contagious period with the flu
You are contagious for about three to seven days after symptoms appear. An infected person can spread flu even if they never develop symptoms severe enough to notice they are sick. “Overall, you can be contagious or were contagious the day before you noticed any symptoms.
This year's flu season is shaping up to be a nasty one—driven by a new variant of the influenza virus that may be able to slip past our vaccine defenses.
Increase your fluid intake, especially if you are not managing to eat as much. MOVE: If possible, get up and move around slowly and gently a few times each day to keep your body moving and to aid circulation (the movement of blood around your body).