GenderPoison

Originally Posted by Acemace

Originally Posted by Fiftycalsniper

I apologize for this-but as an infectious disease specialist, I just had to chime in. Your information is somewhat incorrect.

The actual infection from H1N1 is actually somewhat brief-it's probably expunged from the body within about 7 days total, depending on the person. But the illness basically makes you feel like you've been hit by a Mack truck. The problem actually lies in the speediness that the illness initiates your immune responses.

When you get a viral infection, your body's immune system makes compounds called Type I interferons (also known as interferon alpha and beta). These have antiviral properties, both for the infected cells and the cells in the immediate vicinity of the infected cells. These are produced, as well as a number of other immune response proteins. Collectively, the problem is that the response itself ends up making you feel awful. Oddly, the infection itself isn't really the thing making you feel bad-it's your body's own response TO the infection.

However, once your immune system gets the upper hand on the infection and clears it out, the levels of these immune response proteins drops and you get back to normal. The biggest problem with flu is actually secondary respiratory infections-like pneumonia-that can set in 3-10 days post-influenza due to the impairment of your respiratory tract's bacteria removing cilia. So, stay in bed, drink lots of fluids, and don't bother with Tamiflu. By the time you're ill, it's too late for the drug to do any good for your infection (aside from a placebo effect).

And there's my 2 influence on the matter. Oh, and I hope you guys get better soon. ;^)