Since becoming pregnant, I have felt an overwhelming urge to look up any and all symptoms of pretty much anything in What to Expect When You're Expecting. As a result, I have discovered that I didn't actually know the difference between the flu (influenza) and the stomach flu. And more surprising, I discovered that most other people don't either.
It started with my boss's family contracting the stomach flu, that 1-3 day thing that involves nausea, vomiting, and general misery. As a concerned pregnant woman knowing that the flu was bad to get when expecting, I ran to my book to see what the exact problem was. And my book told me that stomach flu was basically just miserable for me, not my baby. A relief, I suppose. I didn't get it, probably at least partially because my boss warned me away for at least a day after he had it. He told me not to come in to work. Also, I believe in vitamin D.
Now, in my book, there is also a section on telling colds from the flu, and the flu vaccine. Unrelated to the so-called stomach flu.
I know what a cold is. Sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, coughing, and usually no days missed work. I get about one a year and proceed to pop vitamin C drops and drink tea. But the book actually had to differentiate between a cold and a flu.
Which is how I figured David probably had the flu when he started feeling bad on Monday, and then was down and out for the next four days.
Apparently, influenza is like a super awful cold. It involves sore throat, coughing, muscle pain, fever, fatigue, and can last a week to two weeks. It can include nausea and vomiting, but usually not in adults. Exactly what David had. But when I mentioned to people that David had the flu, they all thought that meant he was throwing up. Confusing it with the stomach flu.
Which utterly baffles me because a majority of Americans get the flu shot every year. And apparently don't even know what it is they're trying to avoid.
Not that I would recognize measles or smallpox or polio... but I'm not getting yearly shots for those. I'm not hearing advertising every year about how you need to go and get your flu shot. We're constantly being told the flu is bad, and I guess we're willing to just take that at face value because we don't even know when we have it.
So this is my public service announcement. Go forth and be educated.
Cause now I feel like I have to explain the difference to everyone when talking about it, which gets pretty tiresome.
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