Tami Who? You got the flu.

"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." That familiar punch line to many doctor jokes can actually serve just fine for most of us complaining of flu symptoms.  Although not a walk in the park, our immune systems can handle it pretty well.  For others, not so much.

The elderly, very young and those with compromised immune systems can face a tough fight.  For them, the flu can lead to more serious complications.  Before now, there were no heavy pharmaceutical hitters to protect those individuals, but now, there is a possible remedy at the ready - antiviral medications. These drugs can serve as a tool a doctor can offer for some protection for those individuals to avoid life threatening consequences like pneumonia that could land them in the hospital. They are not a panacea, however, that will cure and make someone immediately better. They merely shorten the duration and, possibly, the severity of flu symptoms.



Here is how they work:  These medications, approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999 and known as Tamiflu and Relenza, make it almost impossible for the virus to replicate or take over. Preventing this pathway discourages the spawn of new viruses which could attack other cells.  Tamiflu and Relenza shield these invaders from attack which results in less severe flu symtoms and getting better sooner.

But, like most good things, there is a flipside.  You must be diagnosed with the flu quickly after symptoms appear and begin treatment within 48 hours in order to get the benefit of these drugs. And, yes, as with any drug or treatment plan, you must weigh the possible side effects:  vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. And, then there are the even more serious possible side effects of confusion, behavioral changes, and seizures. Those last ones sound pretty alarming to me. A well-informed decision should be made for those high risk patients.

As always, discuss with your doctor the benefits and risks and check out what the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says here and what Web MD says here to read the fine print like any good lawyer would tell you.  (And, no worries. I don't plan on ruining the punch line to a good lawyer joke any time soon!)


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtisperry/8346000354/">Curtis Gregory Perry</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>