Flu season: the truth about the most common misconceptions

Can you get the flu from the cold? Is the flu the same as a cold? EuroVerify is looking into the matter.

Flu season is officially here, and with it, a plethora of misconceptions about the virus.

From the effectiveness of vaccines to appropriate medications, a number of preconceived ideas persist, passed on by word of mouth or online.

EuroVerify presented some of the most popular ideas about the flu to experts to get their opinions.

Misconception #1: Getting vaccinated against the flu increases your risk of contracting the virus

“The answer to this preconceived idea is a clear “no””says Dr Richard Webby, an expert on host-microbe interactions at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, USA.

“This is the exact opposite of what the flu vaccine is supposed to do”he adds. “He is designed to induce immunity in your body that will help protect you if you are exposed to the flu“.

“Being vaccinated against the flu therefore does not increase the risk of catching the virus, quite the contrary”concludes Dr. Richard Webby.

Dr Koen Blot, head of the epidemiology of infectious diseases at Sciensano, the Belgian national public health institute, also advises keep informed of the progress of the vaccine, because the composition of the flu changes from one year to the next.

“Vaccines are tailored to account for small changes in the genome and microbiology – the small structure of the virus – so that when you get a new vaccine, the chances of it protecting you are better”he explains.

Misconception #2: The flu is the same as a cold

The flu and the common cold can cause similar symptoms and are more prevalent during the winter months, leading many people to use these terms interchangeably.

If they are both contagious respiratory diseases, they are caused by different viruses and their severity can vary considerably.

“When we talk about colds and flu, we sometimes tend to confuse them when there are many different respiratory viruses circulating in the air during the winter.”explains Koen Blot. “The flu can be mild, or become very serious, depending on the case”.

Some people with the flu simply have a runny nose – like a common cold – while others may have much more severe symptoms, with the virus invading and attacking lung tissue, causing inflammation.

“It causes a very deep, dry cough.”explains Koen Blot. “If the infection makes the inflammation even worse, it begins to negatively impact the oxygen transmission that the lungs are supposed to provide, causing shortness of breath.”.

As the virus invades the body, systemic symptoms appear, such as fever, general malaise, and muscle and joint pain.

“What we call the common cold is not so much the lower respiratory tract of the lungs as the upper respiratory tract, around the throat and nose.”declares the expert. “The cold is therefore often more benign”.

Misconception #3: cold increases the risk of contracting the flu

Since the flu is common during the colder months of the year, some believe that the cold causes the illness. The truth, however, is not that simple.

“In reality, It’s not cold temperatures that cause the flu“explains Dr. Richard Webby. “In temperate regions of the world, influenza is a primarily winter illness, but around the equator it lasts all year round, with some peaks during winter”.

“We know that the flu is transmitted a little more between people in certain humid conditions”he adds. “However, in winter, we tend to gather together a little more and stay indoors”.

According to the expert, it is this promiscuity which creates favorable conditions for the spread of the flu, more than the low temperatures themselves.

Misconception No. 4: certain medications can treat the flu

According to Koen Blot, there are indeed medications against the flu, but they are not antibiotics, these being specifically designed to prevent the proliferation of bacteria, not viruses.

The flu virus can be treated by antiviral therapies such as oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu.

“The medicine aims to prevent the virus from passing from inside the infected lung tissue to the outside, into the airways, where it can then be transmitted to other people or cause a new infection inside the body”explains Koen Blot.

But according to him, it is not certain that this medicine is effective for all cases of flu.

“It appears to be more effective when administered early”he specifies. “But even in this case, it is not certain that it has a very strong impact on the speed of recovery or that it allows hospitalization to be avoided”.

“Severely ill patients will be treated with these antiviral drugs, but they should not be given to everyone who may be infected with influenza”concludes Koen Blot.

How to stay safe during flu season?

There is no magic formula to never catching the flu, but you can take certain steps to better protect yourself and significantly reduce the risk of developing a serious strain of the disease.

“As our mother told us and as we have heard thousands of times during the COVID pandemic: wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, and if you feel sick, stay home.”advises Dr. Richard Webby.

He is also very important for the most vulnerable people to get vaccinated against the flu.

“Everyone benefits from getting a flu vaccine, but older adults and people with underlying conditions, such as diabetes, should be the top priority”concludes the doctor.