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• Those who have a chronic lung disorder

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• Healthy children between 6 months and 2 years of age.

See your doctor if your symptoms are severe, last longer than 10 days, or seem to have spread to your lungs (causing wheezing, shortness of breath, or a painful cough), or if you have a chronic disease (especially a lung disorder or an immune system disorder). You should also see your doctor if your fever lasts longer than 3 or 4 days.

Q & A

Influenza

Q. My company is offering free flu shots. My sister said that she got sick after getting a flu shot last year. Can getting a flu shot make you get the flu?

A. No. The virus used to make the flu vaccine is inactivated and therefore cannot cause an actual flu infection. However, you can get the flu if you are exposed to the virus within a week or two after getting vaccinated (before the vaccine’s protection takes effect) or if a prevalent strain of the virus that year was not included in the vaccine. After getting the shot, you may feel sore at the site of the injection, but you will not get the flu from the shot.

Diagnosis

Doctors can usually diagnose the flu by the symptoms, especially when they occur during flu season in fall or winter. If you have symptoms that persist, your doctor will examine you to see if they could be caused by another disease.

Treatment

There is no cure for influenza, but you can take measures to relieve the symptoms. Rest, stay comfortably warm (but not hot), and drink plenty of water to help prevent dehydration. Take an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to ease aches and pains and help you sleep. Check with your doctor before you use a cough suppressant or any other medication advertised to relieve flu symptoms.

For infants and very young children who cannot blow their nose, use a bulb syringe (available at most pharmacies) to suck the mucus out of their nose. This will help them breathe more easily and keep mucus from dripping down their throat, which can cause coughing and stomachaches (from swallowed mucus).

WARNING!

Don’t Give Aspirin to Children or Adolescents

Do not give aspirin to children or adolescents who have a fever; use of aspirin in children has been linked with Reye’s syndrome—a rare but potentially fatal childhood disorder.

Antibiotics are not effective against the viruses that cause influenza. Your doctor will prescribe an antibiotic only if your influenza has been complicated by a bacterial infection. If you are older or in poor health, your doctor may prescribe amantadine, oseltamivir, or zanamivir if you have been exposed to the flu virus or if you have flu symptoms. These antiviral drugs can prevent or relieve symptoms caused by an influenza A virus.

Sinusitis

The paranasal sinuses are spaces filled with air in the bones around the nose. Sinusitis is inflammation of the mucous membranes of these sinuses caused by a viral, bacterial, or, in rare cases, a fungal infection. The ethmoid sinuses, the small sinuses behind and between the eyes, are those most frequently affected by sinusitis.

Sinusitis is fairly common; some people who smoke get it every time they have a cold. People who have hay fever are also more likely to develop sinusitis; treating the hay fever can decrease the frequency and severity of sinusitis. Damaging the nasal cavity (such as with a foreign object) or introducing bacteria deep into the sinuses (such as by jumping into water feet first without holding your nose) can cause sinusitis. In some cases, sinusitis of the maxillary sinuses (the sinuses below the eyes and on either side of the nose) is brought on by a tooth abscess (see page 1104). Occasionally, an infection may spread from the roots of a tooth into a sinus after dental work.

In rare cases, sinusitis can spread through the mucous membranes of the sinuses into the eye sockets or bones. If it spreads to the brain, the infection can cause meningitis (see page 692) or an abscess (a pus-filled