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Are Fever. Cold, Sore Throat And Body Pain Signs Of Flu?

Posted on Mon, 30 May 2016

Question: I had the flu in December but I did get the flu shot. I have RA so my immune system is low. I have the flu systoms running a fever of 103. I went to Dr. and the flu swab was negative. Can I still have the flu? . He is treating me as if I do. so can this be the flu with false negative?

Answered by Dr. Divakara (19 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Yes, it can still be flu.

Detailed Answer:
Hi

Thanks for posting your query.

Flu is a common term used for viral infection causing fever, cold , soar throat and body pain. There are many viruses which can cause flu and a flu shot gives protection to only one particular virus.

Hence inspire of you taking a flu shot , you can still get flu.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarification feel free to ask.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Divakara (4 minutes later)

What about the neg. Flu test

Answered by Dr. Divakara (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Negative flu test doesn't rule out Flu always.

Detailed Answer:
HI

Same holds good for flu test. The test doesn't detect all the viruses that can cause flu , it just checks for common virus that cause flu. So inspite of negative flu test you can still have Flu.

Regards.

Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar