"Freshers' flu" affects students up and down the country as they head off to university each year.
While it's not an official medical term, "freshers' flu" typically refers to a variety of colds and illnesses that students are susceptible to as they socialise with new people at the start of term. Despite what the name suggests, you don't have to be a fresher – a student in your first year of university – or even a student at all to catch freshers' flu.
If you're heading out to pubs and clubs or mixing with new people they could be carrying viruses that you are not immune to. Here we take a look at everything you need to know.
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Common symptoms of freshers' flu include a fever, dry cough, sneezing, headache, temperature and generally feeling unwell. According to the NHS website, flu symptoms can include:
- Sudden high temperature
- Aches and pains
- Feeling tired or exhausted
- Dry cough
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Difficulty sleeping
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhoea or tummy pain
- Feeling sick and being sick.
Germs spread by coughs and sneezes are the main ways in which colds and flu are passed on. To avoid catching freshers' flu you should practice good hygiene. This includes washing your hands often with soap and warm water, using tissues to trap germs when you cough or sneeze and binning used tissues as quickly as possible.
If you do catch freshers' flu you should make sure you get plenty of rest, stay warm and drink plenty of water. Take paracetamol or ibuprofen to help ease your symptoms and treat aches and pains.
It's also important to stick to a healthy diet and get plenty of vitamin C. Public Health England also advises students to ensure they're up to date with all their vaccinations including MMR and MenACWY.
These vaccines help protect against measles, mumps and rubella, as well as some common types of meningococcal meningitis (swelling of the brain lining) and septicaemia (blood poisoning).
If you're worried about your symptoms or they get worse it's important to contact your GP. You can find more information about flu on the NHS website.
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