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Fighting the Flu May Hurt Those Around You

Posted by Unknown on from the suffer-for-the-good-of-society dept.

sciencehabit writes "When you've got the flu, it can't hurt to take an aspirin or an ibuprofen to control the fever and make you feel better, right? Wrong, some scientists say. Lowering your body temperature may make the virus replicate faster and increase the risk that you transmit it to others. A new study claims that there are at least 700 extra influenza deaths in the United States every year because people suppress their fever."

3 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're fucked, but I feel better?

    Dude, you are so fucked!

  2. Re:Aches & Pains by swb · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is. They're called opioids. But taking opioids makes you a dangerous drug addict, so you're not allowed to have them.

  3. Re:Probably going out/to work by adolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    This may surprise a lot of people in Germany, but in the US the general rule is, you don't have any vacation days and can't afford to take time off of work to see a doctor.

    And if you do take time off of work to get well and figure out how to pay a doctor and any treatment they might suggest, it's entirely possible that, upon attempting to return to work, you find yourself jobless.

    Therefore, again generally, we tend to take as many over-the-counter drugs as we can to begin feeling half-way human so we can keep working every day even if it kills us and those around us (which, according to TFA, it does).

    --
    Kid-proof tablet..