Coughing, Chills, Congested, Body Aches, Fever

"I got a flu shot . . . so why is this happening?" I asked Christine, my doctor's nurse on Friday afternoon. Christine's answer was news I hadn't heard before. "Apparently there are three strains of flu going around this season. The vaccine is good against two of them...sounds like you have the third." (Or something like that.) Wonderful!!

Has anyone else heard this before?

P.S....She went on to tell me that "everyone has it" and the hospital's ER next door is beyond capacity. "Are you running a fever?" she asked. "101.2...I'm so congested I took it rectally." I described my symptoms. Christine was helpful, as she usually is. "Don't come in...we'll call your pharmacy." (I got a Z-Pack and a cough med that I can't pronounce.) She also recommended that I drink plenty of fluids including apple cider -- my doctor practices traditional medicine and she also knows the value of homeopathy and alternatives. Last night my husband gave me an enema and it settled me down for the entire night.

The strain that isn't covered under this years shot is the N3h1 virus. Supposedly the shot will cover the other strains, but won't the other one. Despite those facts, the CDC is still recommending that everyone get the shot this year.

Christine told me that the strain is not serious if I treat it sensibly. However, she knows with my past history of infections that I shouldn't take it lightly. I still get this tickle in my throat, cough like crazy, and then it goes away. I was surprised that the cough medicine has codeine, so I'm taking it sparingly to avoid my system getting bound up. Hubby took my temp a little while ago and it was still up a little at 100.6. Will likely stay home tomorrow on the Martin Luther King holiday.

Here had latest so got it covered in uk

Surprise! My doctor just called to see how I'm doing. How many doctors do that these days? Well, not that much of a surprise. She is such a dear friend as well as my doctor. She's old school and probably will retire in the next couple of years. So many great doctors are retiring or leaving the profession.

A lot of people who got the vaccine, ended up with the flu, but typically a milder case.I've never heard of a doctor calling a patient in this day and age. That's very unusual, and would be great if it were more common. Those thermometers will be seeing plenty of use during this season, for sure. I imagine that thermometer sales triple from December through February.

This pesky bug is still hanging on. Feeling a little better but still coughing with a low grade fever. I'm assuming others on this board are having the same thing cuz the news says the ERs are full across the country.

I'm just now getting over this. Three days coming, three days here and three days going. It's a bad one.

Yeah this is a bad season for people - I know a lot of people who have gotten the flu. I think the vaccine helps to lessen the impact rather than completely prevent the flu, and it seems that there are some strains that aren't getting caught by the vaccine. Sorry to all who have been down with it, especially over the holidays.

I'm on day 2 of a bad sinus thing...can't sleep. More to the topic of the board, I'd be less focused on the sinus pain if I had someone sliding a thermometer in to make sure I don't have a high fever.