[Delbert]

No I havent had to do that , nor do I want to. Usually a combination of symptoms including, bad cough, runny or stopped up nose, body aches , fever and chills gets called the flu from what I have experienced. What differentiates the Flu from just a really bad cold?

[Theyknow]

"What differentiates the Flu from just a really bad cold?"

I am no medical expert, but the differences between the flu and a bad cold are the germ that causes them and the severity of symptoms. The flu makes you much sicker and can turn into pneumonia quickly, if you have an underlying illness such as asthma or simply old age then the symptoms can worsen quickly and even kill. More people die from the flu annually than of HIV in the US.

[snippy_about_it]

Flu facts;

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/fluinfo.htm

[snippy_about_it]

Thimerosal and Flu Vaccines
Some vaccines, including some of the available flu vaccines, contain thimerosal, a preservative that is used in many vaccines and other medicines (including contact-lens storage and cleaning solutions) to prevent bacteria from growing in the solutions. Thimerosal is a mercury-based chemical. Although no one has shown that thimerosal in vaccines poses a danger of mercury poisoning in infants or children, there is a theoretical risk of such poisoning.

Influenza infection is dangerous to infants. However, only two of the three flu vaccines on the market are meant to be given to children under age 2 years, and those vaccines are not recommended for children younger than six months. Therefore, most public health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommend that infants at risk receive flu vaccine starting at age 6 months whether or not the vaccine contains thimerosal. In any event, most vaccines are now made without thimerosal, so even the theoretical risk of mercury poisoning from vaccines has been reduced.
http://www.drreddy.com/shots/flu.html