Is this the flu or not? Ds and dd have had a sore throat

[MJN]

for 3-4 days. Ds had a fever of 102 for one night, then woke up with the sore throat, headache, fatigue and body aching. Dd never had a fever, just a sore throat, fatigue, body aches. They both have some nasal congestion, but not much of a cough. Is this what you all are experiencing with the flu? They are improving, just not doing 100% yet. This started on Sat. night.

[sclisa]

With those symptoms, it could very well be 'flu. However, it could also be a nasty virus. In our area, there is a virus that causes " 'flu-like symptoms', and it's miserable. Lots of kids from the high school are down with it, adults are very ill with it too. My ds has been ill since Saturday; we went to the doctor yesterday, and it's *not* the actual 'flu. I know that the 'flu feels like you've been hit by a ton of bricks, but this virus is really close to that. Soooo...I guess that was my long-winded way to say it could be the flu or a particularly nasty virus. There's no real way to know for sure without a test.

Hope everyone feels well again soon!

Lisa

[Julie in CA]

Two of my dc have the same symptoms right now. I took one of them to the doc, and the strep test was negative (I was surprised, so was the nurse). The same bug seems to be going around, and the doc said the body aches and sore throat would probably go away within about 5 days, but to expect it to morph into a dry, raspy cough that would last about 3 weeks.
Bummer.:(
Also was told that it's pretty contagious, and to expect that all 5 of my dc would eventually come down with it, and probably me and dh too.
Double Bummer. :eek:
Hope your crew improves soon,
Julie