Flu Disease Infection In The USA Discussion
When listening to a new patient who says they have had a fever for 3 days. I would assume they have an infection somewhere in their body. I would do a urine culture, blood cultures and flu swabs. Since the probability of it being an infection either hospital acquired, or community acquired is a very high probability. Typically, it takes 1 to 4 days for symptoms to show up once you’ve caught a virus. According to WebMD “Adults can be contagious from the day before symptoms begin through 5 to 10 days after the illness starts.” I would use my knowledge and experience with probability to come to a diagnosis. I would take the time of year into consideration since in the fall and winter months the probability of it being influenza is very high. According to WebMD “December to February is peak flu season in the United States” I would be sure to take a nasal swab first and make sure the person is wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the infection around. Since influenzas are transmitted via droplets, it would be of great importance that the patient wears the face mask when having test done, and for the family to wear the mask when they are visiting their family member at the hospital. According to the Center for disease control, “20% to 30% of people carrying the influenza virus have no symptoms.” The probability of the spread of the influenzas is very high. On average 5 to 20 percent of people in the United States will get the flu. Changes to these probabilities is age, most of the time for the elderly and infants, they will develop pneumonia from the flu since, in the beginning of the illness they will most likely try to “sleep it off” or consider it being tired. Not paying attention to the other symptoms until it’s difficult for them to breathe or catch their breath. Other symptoms that can arise from the flu if not treated can be sepsis, when the body is completely affected by the illness that the rest on the body’s organs begin to fail if left untreated, confusion and lethargy or failure to thrive. On average according to the CDC 200,000, Americans are hospitalized each year because of problems with the illness, with the probability of about 3,000 to 49,000 deaths from the flu yearly.
Retrieved from WebMD “What are the odds of getting the flu” on January 28,2019 https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-statistics (Links to an external site.)
Retrieved from the Center of Disease Control “Flu activity and surveillance” on January 28, 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivitysurv.htm
