The 8 most effective flu medications

These are the most commonly prescribed drugs to cure this common and annoying disease.

The flu is a problem that most of us face or have faced one or more times during our lives.. It is an illness that has the potential to be fatal (in fact throughout history it has been so many times) but nowadays in societies like ours it is usually no more than a nuisance in most cases.

However, treating the flu is more complicated than it seems. In fact, there are no drugs that "cure" the flu, being the medical treatment mainly dedicated to diminish the affectation and the symptoms caused by the fact of suffering it. What flu medications are there and what are they for? In this article we will briefly explore this question.

Defining the flu

Before going into the medications used to alleviate its symptoms, it might be useful to define what the flu is, which is often confused with a cold.

The flu is understood as a viral infection of the respiratory tract, generally caused by the influenza virus. Although we generally speak of influenza as something general, the fact is that the influenza virus mutates easily and different strains and subtypes can be found that generate different types of influenza. Specifically, there are three main types: A, B (these two are the most frequent and the so-called seasonal flus) and C, although new strains may appear from time to time, as occurred with swine flu or avian flu.

The main symptoms of most of the flus usually include fever, headache, sore throat, runny nose, muscle pain, altered thermal perception and chills. and chills. It frequently causes respiratory alterations, such as difficulty in inhaling and coughing. In fact, its most important and dangerous complication is usually pneumonia.

The contagion of this disease can occur by different routes, which usually include contact with fluids from a sick person through the nose, mouth or conjunctiva. For example, it can be transmitted through saliva or even through the air, such as after sneezing or kissing.

Main drugs used in people with influenza

As we have indicated above, the flu does not yet have a curative treatment, and the organism must overcome it on its own. The medical intervention will be based on the fight against the symptoms and discomfort generated by the flu.. In this sense, in the majority of cases a series of medications can be prescribed for the flu, which are mentioned below.

1. Antivirals

Zanamivir and oseltamivir (better known as tamiflu) have been considered drugs with some effectiveness in preventing the virus from reproducing inside the body, being inhibitors of the enzyme neuroaminidase (which allows the release of the virus into other infected cells).They are inhibitors of the enzyme neuroaminidase (which allows the virus to be released from infected cells to other cells). The former is used by inhalation, while the latter is administered orally.

Although they do not eliminate the infection, in principle they control its spread and can also serve as prophylaxis. They produce some improvement and can shorten the time the virus is in our organism, but they are not capable of curing the condition. Nor have they shown any real effect in the prevention of respiratory complications.

Because their improvement is limited and in some cases they can cause problems and side effects, they are not particularly recommended or prescribed. In fact, their effectiveness is considered to be low and many people consider them to be frauds.

2. Analgesics

Since the pain generated by the infection in the throat, head and joints is usually one of the most annoying symptoms, one of the main drugs prescribed in case of flu are painkillers, one of the main drugs prescribed in case of influenza are analgesics.. Paracetamol stands out as one of the most popular.

3. Antipyretics

Controlling body temperature and fever is also necessary when we are suffering from the flu.The group of drugs known as antipyretics have also been used to reduce it.

4. Antihistamines

The improvement of nasal symptoms such as runny nose, although it usually occurs on its own within a few days, can be induced after a few days.can be induced by the application of antihistamines.

5. Nonsteroidal analgesic-anti-inflammatory drugs

If we hear this name it may seem strange to us, but the truth is that it is the group of drugs of which ibuprofen is a part.. They serve both as an analgesic and antipyretic, reducing fever and pain. It also has some anti-inflammatory effect.

6. Antitussives

Respiratory affections are very frequent during the flu, being cough one of the most common symptoms. That is why sometimes an antitussive may be prescribed to reduce this symptom, although they often have little effect.

Syrups or creams are usually applied on the skin to release vapors that will be inhaled over time. There are other products for this purpose, one of the most powerful (and reserved for cases in which the cough is very annoying and causes pain) being codeine. On a more natural level, foods such as honey can be used..

7. Cold medicine

Despite its name, anti-flu drugs do not really fight the flu virus infection but focus on relieving its symptoms.. They are usually a combination of an analgesic, antihistamine and antitussive. They are not usually prescribed at the clinical level, but they are still very popular and reduce a large number of symptoms or the discomfort they generate. They are usually the type of product that we see advertised on television (specifying that they are dedicated to combat symptoms), and there are widely known and used brands.

8. Antibiotics

Although it is not usual, in some cases the flu can be complicated if, in addition to the virus itself, there is a bacterial infection.. In these cases it may be necessary to use Antibiotics such as amoxicillin. However, the effect is only on the bacterial infection, not on the flu itself (which is a viral infection on which antibiotics have no effect).

Vaccination as a real prevention

Although the treatments applied for influenza are not curative but merely palliative, the truth is that we do have ways of preventing its contagion. Specifically, we are talking about the flu vaccine, which must be applied annually. An inactivated sample of the virus is injected into the body so that the subject's organism generates antibodies to prevent future infections. However, it should be it must be taken into account that the influenza virus is highly mutable, making it easy for new strains to appear..

Although a large part of the population does not take it, it is essential for that population for whom contracting the flu can be a danger. This is the case of the population with reduced defenses, such as the elderly, children and the chronically ill and/or immunosuppressed (e.g. people suffering from HIV infection or diabetes).