The influenza virus takes its own sweet time to bid farewell to its host, no matter what medical actions are taken. Read more about flu recovery time in the following article…
Influenza, or more commonly, flu, is a class of infectious diseases that attack the respiratory tract of the patient. There are three classes of RNA viruses, each divided into multiple other serotypes (used in reference to bacteria and viruses and denotes the clear-cut variations of and within a particular subspecies), that are responsible for various types of flu. These viruses usually target mammal and avian hosts.
Contrary to popular belief, the flu virus is different from the virus that causes common cold, though the symptoms of both illnesses are very similar. Like most external infection causing agents that attack the respiratory system, the flu viruses are airborne and they enter the body of a host along with the air that is breathed in. They usually get launched in the atmosphere when an infected host either coughs of sneezes, thereby, releasing a spray of viruses in the air.
Seasonal Flu Recovery Time Period
Seasonal flu is the most common and almost ubiquitous ailment that seems to catch hold of every second person you meet at the onset of the cold months. You are surrounded by people complaining of body ache, sore throat, fevers and chills and can be seen sneezing and coughing frequently. Cold like symptoms such as running nose can also accompany the aforementioned symptoms. Indeed, ultimately you too end up getting laid by these very symptoms that caused a good number of your acquaintances to take a few days off for complete rest indoors.
The best you can do to get relief is to treat the symptoms. Then, you just need to wait out the entire period starting from infection, incubation and ending with recovery. So, how long does flu last? This entire period starting from incubation till recovery can take about 5-15 days, depending upon how strong the immune system of the host is. Life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia can develop in hosts whose immune systems are weaker, such as children, elderly people or people already suffering from some immune system disease or disorder such as AIDS.
Swine Flu Recovery Time Period
The symptoms of swine flu are almost similar to those of seasonal flu and include muscular fatigue, chills, sore throat, lethargy, pain in joints, frequent coughing, headaches, sweating, vomiting and diarrhea. The recovery time for swine flu differs from person to person on two primary bases – the strength of the immune system and how early antiviral medication is started after contacting the infection. Based upon these two parameters, the symptoms of swine flu, after incubation till recovery, can take anywhere between 4-10 days to completely subside. The swine flu incubation itself can take about 10-12 days.
However, even after the symptoms have seemingly disappeared, a swine flu patient can still pass on the virus and this contagious infection till about a week after he/she has apparently recovered! So, as we can see, the average flu recovery time, be it for seasonal or swine flu, is about a week to ten days starting after incubation of the virus. When down with influenza, or any viral infection for that matter, one must completely refrain from taking antibiotics! Not only do they have no effect on viruses, taking antibiotics unnecessarily, that too when the immune system is already weakened, makes pathogenic bacteria develop resistance to it and they also invade the body.
The only thing that can effectively fight off a viral invasion is our immune system. That is why, when down with a flu or a common cold, eating healthy food such as fresh, citrus fruits, green vegetables and having lots of chicken soups and broths is recommended, along with complete rest to get over the flu and cold. These foods give a boost to the immune system and complete rest allows the immune defenses to bounce back and fight the infection more aggressively.
The antiviral medications and vaccines also work by either activating the immune defenses or weakening the viral shields so that the immune system can effectively target and annihilate them. These medicines and vaccines do not act directly on the viruses. Therefore, eating fresh and healthy food, taking lots of rest and starting medication early are key factors in significantly reducing the recovery time for any kind of flu or cold.
