What to Do for the Flu?

Until recently, the best you could do once you got the flu was to crawl into bed, treat your symptoms, keep your fever under control and try to ride out your bout with the flu. Most cases of flu last from one to five days, but the flu can linger for two weeks or more.

"Now we have several medications that actually kill the flu virus once you get the flu," said Dr. Philip C. Johnson, professor of medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "But they need to be given within 48 hours of the beginning of flu symptoms, so contact your physician immediately as soon as symptoms arise."

The antiviral influenza medications currently available in the U.S. are:

* amantadine (trade names: Cerebramed, Infectoflu, Endantadine, Symmetrel, Tantron), approved for treatment of type A influenza in 1966;

* rimantadine (Flumadine), approved for treatment of type A influenza in 1993; and

* zanamivir (Relenza) and oseltamivir (Tamiflu), two newer medications approved in 1999 that treat type A and type B flu strains.

Courtesy of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/12_01_00-flu.html