FAQs about H1N1 and the seasonal flu

Dr. Gary Simon, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at George Washington University, answers your questions about seasonal and swine flu.

Question: How can you tell if you have swine or seasonal flu and not just a cold?

Answer: "It doesn't build up gradually over four or five days. Influenza comes on with a bang, and within a few hours you have a temperature of 103, 104." Other symptoms include: headache, muscle aches and generally feeling lousy. "And then you may get a runny nose. You may get throat pain, and you get a cough. And you cough, cough, cough."

Question: If you have the flu, when do you become contagious and how long does it last?

Answer: Dr. Simon says you can be contagious 24 hours before you start showing symptoms of seasonal or H1N1 flu. "So if you know you're going to be sick tomorrow, go home now."

Question: Swine flu has been making people sick around here for months. So how much longer will this particular virus stick around?

Answer: "It's not going to be here forever...let's start out with that. But, I don't know that I can say it's going to be gone by February. We may get several waves of this, and it may last a few more months."

Question: When might the seasonal flu begin showing up around here?

Answer: This is about the time every year that seasonal flu begins appearing. "H1N1 may push it out, so to speak. We may not see any of the seasonal, we may just see H1N1."

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)