Taking drugs like aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen when you have the flu reduces fever and eases aches, but a new study suggests there are unintended - unhelpful - consequences.
Based upon mathematical projections, Canadian researchers concluded that using anti-fever drugs increases the spread of flu.
Lowering body temperature allows the flu virus to multiply more efficiently and also encourages more interaction between flu sufferers and uninfected people.
Fever fights viruses by reducing their ability to reproduce. Reducing fever defeats this effect, increasing the rate and duration of viral shedding.
Meanwhile, without the constant oppression of the fever making them feel bad and reminding them that they are contagious, people continue normal activity longer than they otherwise would.
“We’re not saying to avoid these drugs,” the senior author, David J.D.
Earn, told The New York Times. He is a professor of mathematics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “But if you take them, there’s this effect that’s not obvious.”
The authors of the study, which was published Jan. 21by Proceedings of the Royal Society B, acknowledge that their numbers are not precise. Rather than conduct experiments, they created a mathematical model that attempted to predict what fever suppression could mean for a large population using the amount of fever-reducing drugs that sales data suggest are taken by patients in the United States.
They estimated how much more of the flu virus patients would shed absent a fever, assuming that more shedding of the virus puts more infectious agents into the world and thus increases the likelihood of other people being exposed.
They concluded that use of such medications in the United States leads to at least 1 percent more flu cases. Their numbers change when different strains of flu are considered, but they estimate that at least 700 deaths could be avoided annually by not using fever-reducing drugs at all.
The model did not include the likelihood that people who lower their fevers would be more likely to continue their daily routines instead of staying home in bed.
“The real message is straightforward,” Earn told the Times. “It’s better to stay home, and keep your child at home, so you don’t infect others.” LIMITING THE VIRUS
If the flu is in your home, limiting infection requires constant cleaning.
The virus can survive on clothing, so it makes sense to wash linens, clothing and kitchen items of infected family members in very hot, soapy water. WebMD says to use a color-safe bleach in the laundry to kill germs.
And frequently wipe down touched surfaces such as tabletops, remote controls, doorknobs, keyboards and phones. Use disposables like paper towels instead of sponges and cloths for cleaning.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza information for consumers, people can spread the flu to others up to 6 feet away. This happens when they cough, sneeze or talk, and when a caretaker or family member touches something that has flu virus on it and then touches his mouth or nose.
While hand-washing is an easy-to-adopt health-protecting habit, keeping hands out of the mouth, nose and eyes requires determined self-control.
Sick people can pitch in too, with this simple trick: Attach two tissue boxes together with a long rubber band, one with fresh tissues and the other box empty to receive the discards. This way, the virus would travel less because used tissues will be instantly contained rather than dropped all over the house.
This article includes information from the Orange County Register and The New York Times.
ActiveStyle, Pages 27 on 02/03/2014