H3N2 Flu :: The new Scare terrorizing all

The H3N2 Flu, do you have a reason to be scared or is it just some precautions that you need to take. And what about it's repercussions in our children and what are the symptoms we need to be watchful about. All this and much more in this article on the current seasonal influenza flu. by Ashu Verma Chaubey

Hi friends,


These days, there seems to be an ongoing battle between Covid, adeno, and the influenza virus strains to win the war of virulence supremacy, and influenza or as it is popularly known as H3N2 is winning the race with the maximum number of detections among the people presenting themselves with symptoms of the disease.

A distant cousin of the H1N1 swine flu strain, this virus has high transmissibility and though less virulent than its cousin, it still has causes of concern. The incubation period is short, the symptoms are harsh and weaken your body a lot.

Usually starting as a sore throat, this is an upper respiratory tract infection, which falls under the category of air-borne infection spread by coughing, coming in contact with an infected person, and droplets transmission due to coughing and sneezing, which turns into bouts of a severe dry cough very quickly accompanied by headache and high-grade fever.

It also results in swollen respiratory pipes and bronchitis to worsen the coughing, especially in our children. Even before one realizes that the uninvited guest has entered our house, the virus is quick to take all the members in its pangs.

The fever, headache, and body ache usually go down in about four days but beware, the coughing is here to stay for a long time. Most of the time, people usually recover in about a week but the bouts of coughing keep coming and going. Sometimes you might feel that your coughing has totally resolved miraculously and within a couple of hours it’s back with a bang and you wouldn’t even be able to control it and it is usually worse during evening hours. And though normally people are recovering from the disease just like other flu infections, still the hospitalization rate and the number of people requiring oxygen support are higher due to this strain of the virus.

Also, pneumonia has been reported in many cases, so it is always advisable to continuously monitor your symptoms and be in touch with the doctor. Any difficulty in breathing, pain in the chest region or shivering and chills, or fever that doesn’t come down within four days should be taken seriously and emergency medical advice be taken before the situation worsens as though not that fatal but still casualties are being reported from across the country.
Especially our children and old people or people with comorbidities need to be watchful.

Stating an example about my personal experience of a tryst with the disease, my husband started with a dry cough on day 1 and by the next afternoon he was running a down high fever, I was the next to show up the symptoms within forty-eight hours and then within a span of seventy-two hours, our trio fell prey to it one by one.

The fever was very high and the coughing was so severe that we could barely manage to speak. My husband initially started with the local cough syrup but because he had already suffered pneumonia during the delta strain of the Covid wave, I consulted a doctor online to know about the symptoms we needed to keep a check on. Though hearing his coughing he was sure that it wasn’t anything of that sort this time but still more than ten days have passed and his coughing has improved just by about fifty percent.

Talking about my kids, it took me about twenty-four hours to get in touch with the pediatrician due to the Holi festival and by that time his coughing had worsened badly and the doctor immediately advised the needed nebulization for him as his respiratory tract was swollen and he was wheezing a lot. Along with it, he started with a combination of cough syrups and fever medicine and was strictly advised to immediately inform him if any of the symptoms worsened. The same treatment was started for my second kid, who vomited like anything right from the first day of infection.

On the second day of his infection, there was barely any food in his tummy as he puked out everything he ate or drank. We were worried and informed to his doctor who consoled us saying that it was the body’s reaction to throw out the cough and that he would get well soon with the same treatment.

Though we were lucky, dear friends reading this please do not think that you can loosen your seatbelt and always assume the vomiting to be the body’s response to throwing out a cough as this disease sometimes also presents symptoms of diarrhea and upset stomach, so under any circumstances, you have got to be watchful at least till the fever subsides.

My third one presented with just a fever and no coughing for three days which was a bit surprising for us but his coughing started on the fourth day and he has spells of recurrent high fever. Talking about myself, I started with a scratchy throat, exhaustion, and fever and then coughing. My coughing was also quite worse and I could feel trouble breathing as happens in the case of allergic bronchitis, which would worsen on lying down.

For myself, I relied on homeopathic medicines from my doctor, who also prescribed a homeopathic syrup which really helped me fight the symptoms. It’s been around twelve days since the infection entered our house, but thank god now we are all on the path of recovery.

The children too are recovering from coughing except for the third one who still has a fever. But I’m not telling you so that you can relax after reading my experience because though it may not turn serious in ninety-nine percent of cases but still, it cannot be taken lightly, for even these mild ones are more than enough to disrupt your normal routine and hamper your daily life for a couple of weeks.

And though with proper medication children are recovering fast still they are developing high fever with the onset of the disease, which needs to be continuously monitored and their breathing also needs to be kept under constant watch for symptoms of wheezing.

In any case, self-medication needs to be avoided totally and home remedies also need to be strictly followed along with a good diet rich in fruits and lots and lots of water at least if not anything else, to flush out the toxins. Also, during the course of the infection, there might be days when you won’t feel like eating anything, your taste will turn bad or you just might not feel hungry but continue with some light and hot meals to keep your mood upbeat.

At last, my piece of advice is……

Do not panic because this is just another seasonal flu, but do not relax either because the symptoms in themselves are worse to annoy and irritate you.

Do not self-medicate yourself but yes alternate systems of medicine also do have effective treatment options and have worked wonders at least in my case.

And no use of antibiotics, until and unless the doctors recommend, which normally they won’t under the normal course of the disease for they do more harm than good. Have plenty of water, lots of rest, and fruit juices if you cannot manage anything else. And just relax.

Hope you stay safe.
And a speedy recovery in case you catch this strain.
And please avoid crowded places and follow the kovid protocols.
And take an off from the office and school and stay indoors if you are ill so as to stop the spread of
the infection.

Remember aaj bhi…….
Do gaj ki doori aur mask aur handwash hai bahut zaroori.

Take care
Shabba khair
Ashu Verma Chaubey

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