Is there such a thing as a 24-hour flu? I’ve always had my doubts, that was until….well….about 24 hours ago. New Year’s Day – the evening of New Year’s Day – my family had dinner with my sister and her family. We ate roasted rabbit. In Italy, rabbit is one of the things you eat at New Year’s and Easter, and its cultural significance escapes me at the time. All I know is that I’m not too keen on eating that rabbit most evenings. Something abut that I was looking at from my plate just didn’t look right. Now maybe it was a coincidence or maybe my mother-in-law was trying to poison me, but the next time I woke up I was seriously ill in the morning. So was my daughter and so was my wife.
Not that it made me recover faster, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) indicates that there is no such thing as a 24-hour flu. There is, however, food poisoning – better known as Clostridia breaking – that strikes after a few hours of eating badly prepared by absorbing, and who subscribes by blessing you with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea (starts 8 to 22 hours after eating food that contains these bacteria). The CDC continues to state that the illness usually clears within 24 hours, but less severe symptoms may last for some people – especially the very young or elderly.
Needless to say – all the symptoms hit home – severe stomach cramps, body aches from head to toe, constant vomiting and high fever. Is there anything out? How my kidneys felt like someone was rubbing them all day. But sure enough, after about 24 hours – that would mean earlier in the morning – my fever went away, my aches and pains quite a lot left, I did not bend all my time like a fetus in front of the toilet and to take it down, I write here about my things with the 24-hour flu.
In addition to what we all learned in the paragraph – there is no such thing as a 24-hour flu.
Minnesota Department of Health (www.health.state .mn.us) again takes the “old stomach virus/24-hour flu myth one step further and says that most 24-hour flu cases are really Norovirus outbreaks. . MDoH says Novovirus “… is by far the most common cause of foodborne illness in Minnesota and the rest of the United States and vomiting, diarrhea, it creates pain that can incapacitate people for up to two days.
I’ve never been to Minnesota, but the advice to prevent the spread of norovirus is the first thing wherever you live: wash your hands. Often, especially when using the bathroom! Wash hands after changing diapers; before preparing food; before he eats Likewise, if someone in your home is sick, wash your hands often wash and clean and disinfect household surfaces. and become infected immediately after vomiting or bowel movements.
Meanwhile, my good friends at www.webMD.com echo much the same advice and say that the best way to prevent gastroenteritis, norvovirus or Clostridium difficile is by washing your hands, drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding contaminated foods. . WebMD points out one thing that I feel is significant – while many sites mention the importance of drinking fluids (i.e. water) webMD says that water is not really what you need as much as a good re-hydration product like Gatorade or something similar. Why? Because we experience dehydration while we are busy vomiting and pooping, we just lose electrolytes, and those can only be replaced by drinking special electrolyte liquids. Just something to think about the next time you’re bent over yourself in the bathroom. (you can read all the gory details by clicking here).
Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for getting better. For what it’s worth, 24 hours can go by pretty quickly.
So go on there. The real deal is the 24-hour flu. So maybe that’s not what it says, but I think I’d rather feel raw for 24 hours and pass than deal with a runny nose and throat for several days/weeks.
