The flu and you: Your guide to five days of flu

You can take all the precautions in the world, but sometimes the flu sneaks around your defences. So what do you do when someone in your house has the flu - or even swine flu?

To give you an idea, here's a countdown of five average days with the flu. Keep in mind that this rundown is based on a typical case of seasonal flu - this year H1N1 swine flu is also in circulation again.

Day one with the flu

Your child or your spouse feels achy and has a temperature. He or she was fine yesterday, but today feels like he or she was hit by a lorry.  The flu comes on fast - much more quickly than the common cold. It's probably the flu. What do you do?

First, don't panic. Obviously, you're going to think the worse, that your loved one has swine flu. Just remember that there are plenty of other viruses - including other flu viruses - that can cause similar symptoms. Even if it is swine flu, most people catching swine flu in the UK have actually had fairly mild symptoms.

Next, seek medical advice by phone, but don’t go to the GP’s surgery. Flu symptoms are quite obvious. If your loved one is at increased risk of having contracted flu - because he or she came in contact with someone who had it, or travelled to an area with an outbreak - health professionals may ask questions about whether your loved one suffers from any other conditions or chronic illnesses. People with pre-existing medical conditions and women who are pregnant are more at risk from complications from flu.

Seek medical advice about whether you should get an antiviral flu medication. These medicines, like oseltamivir and zanamivir, can shorten the flu's duration by a couple of days and possibly lessen its intensity as well. However, if they're not taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, they're not as effective. Both medicines work against the swine flu as well as other strains of flu viruses. Tell medical staff if you have a lung condition such as asthma. You may need to take special precautions if you take some anti-flu medications.

Antivirals are normally only prescribed to people in at-risk groups, but this year doctors are being allowed to use clinical discretion about people outside those groups.

Even if you get the prescription in time, flu sufferers are in for an uncomfortable few days at least. The worst of the seasonal flu is generally three to five days, but symptoms can last a week or so. When family members have the flu:

• Make them comfortable.
• Give them plenty of fluids.
• Make sure they rest.
• You can ease symptoms like high temperature with paracetamol or ibuprofen.