Health Is Wealth: What is the 24 Hour Flu?
By Catalogs Editorial Staff
Influenza — also known as the flu — is a contagious respiratory disease that can cause a mild to severe illness in patients. The normal course of illness runs from one to two weeks, on average. With that said, people have experienced a 24-hour variety of the illness. Many people think they are experiencing the 24-hour flu, actually have a pathogen that mimics flu symptoms in addition to diarrhea or nausea. So, what is the 24-hour flu? Is it real? Or is it another pathogen that mimics flu-like symptoms?
In order to understand what the 24 Hour Flu is and what’s causing your discomfort, you must understand your symptoms. That way you can find the right treatment for you. Could it be something totally different: gastroenteritis or even food poisoning?
Keep reading to learn more about potential causes for your discomfort: Is it influenza, food poisoning, gastroenteritis caused by the norovirus, or some other bug?
24 Hour Flu General Information
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), influenza symptoms or the 24 Hour flu can range from:Before you continue reading about the Health Is Wealth: What is the 24 Hour Flu? there is a special announcement we would like to share with you. Catalogs.com has negotiated special medicare rates for our vibrant community of seniors. If you are over the age of 60, you can head over to our Seniors Health Section which is full of information about medicare. All you need is your zip code and a few minutes of your time to potentially save 100s of dollars on your medicare bills.
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Muscle and/or body aches
- Headaches
- Fever or chills
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Fatigue
- Certain people may also experience vomiting and/or diarrhea –Yet this happens to be much more common in children than adults
So, it’s important to know and understand your own symptoms in order to understand which particular malady you are dealing with. Thus, recovery times will tend to run anywhere from a few days up to around two weeks.
So, what is 24 hour flu? Does it actually exist or is it some other form of bug which successfully mimics flu-like symptoms? Let’s take a look at a few other options below.
Clostridium Perfringens
Also known as food poisoning, Clostridium perfringens can make its presence felt a few hours after ingesting poorly cooked food. One may experience:
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
Norovirus
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, many instances of the purported “24-hour flu” or “24-hour cold” are simply cases of norovirus outbreaks. It is a contagious virus — a person can get norovirus from different sources. For example, you can get it from contaminated food, water, surfaces, or people — this virus causes gastroenteritis, which is the inflammation of the stomach and/or small and large intestines.It’s important to note that norovirus isn’t related to influenza at all. Apparently, this is called “food poisoning” or “stomach virus,” symptoms of norovirus may include:
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Headache
- Body aches
- Nausea
- Throwing up
- Stomach pain

Thus, it’s better to call it a 24-hour bug. With a wide-range of potential causes — depending upon which symptoms you are experiencing — maybe the shorter variety of illness is actually better to have — and get over — than some of these longer variations. Take some solace in that, at least. You should feel better in no time.
Resources:
CDC.gov: Flu Symptoms&Severity.Yahoo.com: The Real Deal on the 24-Hour Flu.
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Above photo attributed to bulinna