What are the symptoms of flu?
Flu symptoms include:
- a sudden high temperature (38 degrees Celsius or above)
- an aching body
- feeling tired or exhausted
- a dry cough
- a sore throat
- a headache
- difficulty sleeping
- loss of appetite
- diarrhoea or stomach ache
- feeling sick or being sick.
Children might also say they have pain in their ear or seem less active than usual.
What's the difference between a cold and flu?
Flu is not just a bad cold, it can be a very serious illness. In a recent survey, 3 in 4 people told us that flu caused their lung condition symptoms to get worse.
| Flu | Cold |
| Comes on quickly, within a few hours | Comes on gradually |
| Can affect more than just your nose and throat | Mainly affects your nose and throat |
| Makes you feel exhausted and too unwell to do everyday activities | Makes you feel unwell, but you should still be able to do everyday activities |
Treating flu
There is no specific treatment for flu. Most people can treat flu by themselves at home:
Do
- rest and sleep
- drink lots of fluids to avoid getting dehydrated
- stay warm. We have more information about staying warm
- take paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower your temperature and treat aches and pains. Give children’s paracetamol or children’s ibuprofen to your child. Check if ibuprofen is suitable for you before taking it
- keep managing your lung condition well. This includes taking your usual medicines as prescribed and following your self-management plan. We have an asthma action plan, a COPD self-management plan and a pulmonary fibrosis self-management plan that you can download for free.
Antibiotics
Taking antibiotics will not help treat flu because it is a viral infection.
When to get help
If you or your child have flu and a lung condition, ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact 111. It’s important to get the right support, as you’re more at risk of becoming seriously ill from flu, or needing to go to hospital, if you have a lung condition.
Having flu can increase the chance of you having an asthma attack, or a flare-up of your lung condition. You’re also at risk of getting a chest infection after having flu.
We know from calls to our helpline that it can be hard to get a GP appointment sometimes, that’s why we have information to help you get in touch with your GP. You can also get more advice and help to manage your symptoms from your local pharmacist.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you or your child:
- get sudden chest pain
- have difficulty breathing
- cough up blood.