I woke up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable

Many people often wake up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable all over, but cannot find the reason. They have not been overworked or had any illness recently. At this time, you must be careful, as you may have the flu. The flu is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by viral infection, and there are several different types of influenza viruses, so everyone must have a real understanding and knowledge of this.

Human influenza is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by three types of influenza viruses: A, B, and C. Influenza viruses have 8 different independent gene segments, which determine that influenza viruses have the characteristics of gene rearrangement. Genetic rearrangement has been shown to play a key role in the generation of novel influenza virus particles and in causing human influenza pandemics.

It is generally believed that pigs play an important role in the formation of this hybrid virus and are considered "mixers" because they have cellular receptors for both viruses. Both human influenza virus and avian influenza virus can infect pigs. After a period of hybridization, new reassortant viruses are produced, which then infect humans, causing an epidemic of human influenza.

In clinical practice, attention should be paid to differential diagnosis from diseases such as influenza, common cold, bacterial pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), infectious mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus infection, chlamydial pneumonia, and mycoplasma pneumonia.

1. Common cold: caused by a variety of viruses, mostly sporadic, with a slow onset, obvious upper respiratory tract symptoms, and mild systemic symptoms. Common cold is also known as acute rhinitis or upper respiratory tract catarrh, and its main manifestation is catarrhal symptoms in the nasopharynx. In adults, the disease is mostly caused by rhinovirus, followed by parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, echovirus, coxsackievirus, etc. The onset is relatively acute, with symptoms such as dryness, itching or burning sensation in the throat in the early stages. At the same time or several hours after the onset, there may be sneezing, nasal congestion, and watery nasal discharge, which becomes thicker after 2 to 3 days. It may be accompanied by sore throat, and sometimes hearing loss due to Eustachian tube inflammation. It may also cause tearing, dull taste, shortness of breath, hoarseness, and a small amount of coughing. There is generally no fever or systemic symptoms, or only low-grade fever, malaise, mild chills and headache. Examination revealed congestion, edema, secretions in the nasal mucosa, and mild congestion in the pharynx. If there are no complications, recovery usually takes 5 to 7 days.

2. Influenza-typhoid type leptospirosis: It is more common in summer and autumn, with a history of contact with infected water. In addition to fever, clinical symptoms include tenderness in the gastrocnemius muscle and enlarged and tender inguinal lymph nodes. Laboratory examinations can detect antibodies through agglutination tests. If the antibody titer is higher than 1:400, this disease is considered and can be diagnosed through blood culture.

3. Streptococcal pharyngitis: The disease is characterized by redness and swelling of the pharynx, enlarged tonsils, purulent secretions, enlarged submandibular lymph nodes, increased WBC neutrophil count, and blood culture ().

4. Other viral respiratory infections: such as parainfluenza virus and adenovirus infections must be distinguished through etiological examination.

5. Mycoplasma pneumonia: It must also be distinguished through etiological examination.

The clinical characteristics are related to the virus strain, age of the population, physiological condition, etc., and the main manifestations are fever, chills, dry cough, headache, sore throat, general discomfort, fatigue, nasal congestion and runny nose. The disease has a short incubation period, is highly contagious, and spreads rapidly, causing greater harm to infants, the elderly, and those with weak constitutions.