Flu Quiz

There's no such thing as stomach flu, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The flu is a respiratory illness. Although people frequently use the word flu for any infectious illness they get, flu is a specific type of infection, caused each year by ever-changing, ever-adapting strains of the influenza virus.

People with severe allergy to eggs shouldn't get the vaccine.

The vaccine contains dead virus, so you can't get the flu from it.

Drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors fight flu if used within 48 hours after symptoms appear, the CDC says. Two other drugs, the antivirals amantadine and rimantadine, work best when taken after you've been exposed to the flu but haven't felt symptoms. That's one reason experts warn you shouldn't consider these drugs an alternative to vaccination: Few flu victims visit the doctor in time for the drugs to help. There's another problem: Both the neuraminidase inhibitors and the antivirals can cause varied side effects, including stomach trouble.

You catch the flu by coming in contact with droplets of an infected person's cough or sneeze. Avoiding people you know are infected will cut your risk, as will frequent hand-washing. But by far, experts say, your best protection is the vaccine.

The Rapid Test takes about 30 minutes to an hour to show a result, experts say. The older viral culture takes two to 10 days, past the time necessary for newer drugs to offer relief.

About 20,000 Americans die each year after becoming infected with the flu, according to the CDC. Nine out of 10 are senior citizens who develop complications such as pneumonia after they are severely weakened by flu.

The flu has an acute onset with fever, a non-productive cough, muscle ache, headache and fatigue. Generally, you feel like you've been run over by a truck. Most colds don't include fever or severe headache, muscle aches are milder, and fatigue and weakness from a cold are far less severe than from flu.