Each year, you will likely hear about the dangers of the flu. If you’ve ever suffered from this disease, you know much the flu can wear you down. The flu can quickly become more severe, if left untreated. Some think that visiting the emergency room is the best course of action when suffering from the flu. However, there is another facility that can treat you, often faster and for less overall cost. In this post, you will learn more about the flu, how to treat it, and where to seek treatment.
What is the Flu?
The flu or influenza is a disease that is highly contagious. Having the flu means that your respiratory system is affected. There are variations of this disease, both influenza A and B.
If someone you know has the flu, you will want to avoid contact with them. The flu is spread through a simple interaction, like a handshake. This disease has a very wide window of spreading the illness to others. Someone with the flu can be contagious two days before showing any symptoms.
What are Symptoms of the Flu?
Many often get the symptoms of a cold and flu mixed up. It is understandable to confuse cold with the flu since the symptoms between the two diseases are similar. However, symptoms of the flu will often be far more severe.
Common symptoms of the flu include coughing, sneezing, congestion, and having a sore throat. It is common to experience a running a higher internal temperature with the flu. In many cases, a fever is a key difference between a cold and the flu.
How Can I Treat this Illness?
One great way to avoid getting the flu is to practice preventative measures. Many people visit an urgent care to get a flu shot. This shot is a flu treatment you will want to have done before catching the flu. Those who receive a flu shot are protected from the flu all season long.
You may be asking yourself where can I find a 24 hour emergency room near me? Luckily, an urgent care facility is just what you need. You won’t have to spend the kind of costs commonly seen in an emergency room.
Certain emergency facilities may end up referring you to visit an urgent care location. An urgent care facility has, on average, seven separate treatment rooms to treat patients.
How to Find a 24 Hour Emergency Room Near Me?
The best route for flu care after hours is an urgent care location. One study found that nearly 60 percent of urgent care locations had a wait time less than 15 minutes. In addition, 65 percent of these facilities have a physician available at all times, treating everything from sore throats to fractured bones.
Having the flu will make you wonder where can I find a 24 hour emergency room near me? Visiting an urgent care location gives you the same ER treatment, often in a much faster time.
In closing, the flu is a highly contagious disease with symptoms akin to a cold. One of the most important things to when having the flu is to seek proper treatment. It is easy to become stressed, asking yourself, where is a 24 hour emergency room near me? You will feel better knowing that there are urgent care facilities across the nation. Research shows that there are nearly 9.300 urgent care facilities in America, with 50-100 new locations opening yearly.