FDA approves new drug to treat influenza.

You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. This number can fluctuate if your immune system is weak or undeveloped, specifically in cases of children or older adults. In more severe cases, you could be contagious for even longer after you begin experiencing symptoms. If you have the flu, you’re contagious from at least a day before you begin to experience symptoms up through five days after your symptoms begin.

Be sure to stay hydrated to loosen mucus in your chest and strengthen your immune system. Over-the-counter medication therapy can also ease flu symptoms. This antiviral drug helps stop the influenza virus from replicating. If you begin to experience any of these symptoms or if your condition worsens, stop using the prescription and visit your doctor immediately.Ī new medication called baloxavir marboxil ( Xofluza), created by a Japanese pharmaceutical company, was approved in October 2018 by the U.S.

Though effective, these medications can cause side effects such as nausea and vomiting. These medications, known as neuraminidase inhibitors, reduce the ability of the influenza virus to spread from cell to cell, slowing down the infection process. In other cases, your doctor may prescribe antiviral medication to fight the infection. In some cases, influenza A symptoms can clear on their own with ample rest and fluid intake. This, combined with the ability of type A influenza to mutate faster than type B, can cause pandemics. This infection can also spread to other animals and humans. Wild birds are the natural hosts for a type A virus, also called avian flu and bird flu. Past flu vaccinations will not prevent infection from a new strain. Influenza A mutates faster than influenza B, but both viruses are always changing, creating new strains from one flu season to the next. Unlike a type B infection, type A viruses are categorized by subtypes and strains. Type A influenza can be dangerous and is known to cause outbreaks and increase your risk of disease. This drastically reduces the risk of a widespread pandemic due to type B influenza. The B virus strains take longer for their genetic makeup to change than influenza A. Type B viruses mutate much slower than type A infections and are categorized by strains, but not subtypes. Humans are the natural host for type B infection. Type B influenza can be just as severe as type A influenza but is less common throughout the flu season compared to type A. Type C influenza usually only causes mild respiratory infections. Types A and B influenza are the more common forms of this infection, routinely causing seasonal outbreaks.

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