Duration

After one has become infected with an influenza virus, the so-called incubation period of the disease begins. This means that although an infection has taken place and the viruses are multiplying in the body of the person affected, there are still no symptoms. This incubation period usually lasts about 1-2 days.

Typical for the flu is that the typical symptoms can appear within a few hours. The average duration of the disease is about 5-7 days after the onset of symptoms. In some cases, however, the course of the disease can last for weeks.

Depending on the occurrence of possible complications as well as the presence of specific, individual risk factors, the time to recovery from influenza can take several weeks and even require hospitalization. Patients with risk factors, for example elderly people, usually experience an acute worsening of symptoms about 3-5 days after the onset of symptoms. As a rule, the symptoms of the disease are not the same on every day of the illness but can vary depending on the progress of the disease.

Typically, influenza starts very suddenly and severely and is dominated by periodic fever attacks in the first few days.As the disease progresses, the symptoms become weaker until they disappear completely at the end of the disease. For many of those affected, it is not the flu virus itself but the additional bacterial infections (so-called secondary bacterial infections) that pose the greatest risk of influenza. In many cases, the organism, which is already weakened by the fight against influenza viruses, is no longer able to adequately combat bacterial pathogens.

For this reason, bacteria can penetrate the body much more easily and lead to further diseases. Inflammations are among the most relevant diseases that can occur in parallel to influenza. In addition, superinfections in the respiratory tract are often observed in affected patients.

The brain (encephalitis)
The skeletal muscles (myositis) and
The heart muscle (myocarditis)

Probably the most effective method of preventing a flu is to have a flu vaccination. In contrast to other vaccination methods, however, there is a problem with influenza vaccination that should not be neglected. Influenza viruses, especially those of type A, are considered to be extremely versatile.

This means that the pathogens that cause the outbreak of influenza are constantly changing through mutations within the genome. In terms of an effective vaccination, this means that immunization is only meaningful if it is refreshed every year. For this reason, every year (usually from October to November), large vaccination campaigns are held to immunize against the influenza virus strains circulating at that time.

The costs of a flu vaccination are usually fully covered by public and private health insurance companies. Whether a vaccination makes sense or not is ultimately up to each individual to decide for themselves. Preventive vaccination against influenza viruses is particularly recommended for the following groups of people:

People who are older than 60 years
Pregnant women from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy
Children and teenagers
Adults with increased health risk (due to chronic diseases of the lungs, heart, circulation, liver or kidneys)
Diabetics
Patients with multiple sclerosis
Immunocompromised patients
HIV infected persons
Residents of old people’s and nursing homes
People with increased risk of infection (medical staff, teachers, educators…)

In addition, some basic rules of hygiene can also help to prevent infection with the influenza virus and thus to avoid influenza.

If close relatives or people in the vicinity suffer from influenza, their hands should be washed and disinfected thoroughly several times a day. Patients at risk should keep their distance from the infected persons or wear a mouth guard in case of direct contact. In addition, a sufficient supply of vitamin D should help to reduce the risk of infection and prevent infection.

In this context, the strengthening of the innate immune system induced by the vitamin plays a decisive role. The vitamin is able to stimulate the formation of various peptides that are needed to fight pathogens. In addition, flu prophylaxis with neuraminidase inhibitors can be considered for some groups of people.

This preventive option can be used especially for patients who can no longer be vaccinated normally due to an underlying disease (for example, patients with a severely weakened immune system). The use of neuraminidase inhibitors is now also being discussed for the prevention of influenza among medical personnel. Vaccination against influenza viruses is the only reliable method of efficiently preventing illness with the virus.

In most cases, the vaccination is a so-called “dead vaccine”. This means that the vaccination contains killed viruses that can no longer infect the organism, but which efficiently prepare the immune system for an infection with the pathogen, so that a disease is efficiently prevented upon contact with the virus. Since the 2012/13 season, a “live vaccine” has also been available, which is approved for children between the ages of 2 and 17 inclusive.

This is intended to improve the effectiveness of the active ingredient in this age group.The vaccination is refreshed annually, usually in the months of October and November, as this is the beginning of the season of infection with the influenza virus. According to data from the Robert Koch Institute, the vaccine protects up to 90% against the disease with the pathogen. The STIKO (Standing Vaccination Commission) recommends the flu vaccination especially for persons who fall into one of the following risk groups:

Persons from the age of 60
Pregnant women from the 2nd trimenon
Children, adolescents and adults with health risks due to an existing basic illness
Persons at increased risk for infection with the virus (e.g. medical staff), as well as persons who, if they are ill, can potentially infect many other people (e.g. teachers)
Persons in regular contact with poultry or wild birds