That's not the "flu."

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when someone tells me that they've been sick with the flu. I always say "a stomach bug or influenza?" They say "stomach flu" 99% of the time. That's not the FLU.

Here's the thing. I'm UBER sensitive about the difference. Why? Because I have HAD the FLU (influenza, that is). It's awful. It's serious. It's life-threatening. It's the sickest I've ever been in my entire life, outside of MRSA.

So, I'm not a doctor. But I am a patient advocate for my chronically ill child, so I'm pretty well versed. I study and read A LOT. Here's a study guide:

• Stomach flu actually refers to gastroenteritis or irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Gastroenteritis may be caused by a virus, bacteria, parasites in spoiled food or unclean water, or another trigger such as lactose intolerance, which causes a reaction to dairy products. Basically, you're throwing up or have the runs.
• Influenza (flu), on the other hand, is a viral infection that mimics a cold, except that it starts forcefully with symptoms of fatigue, fever, severe headache, body aches and respiratory congestion. While more than 100 different virus types can cause a common cold, only influenza virus types A, B, and C cause flu. More severe cases of influenza can lead to life-threatening illnesses such as pneumonia.
• While antibiotics can treat a bacterial infection that may cause gastroenteritis, antibiotics CANNOT treat influenza because flu is caused by a virus.
• The Flu Shot does NOT prevent you from getting a stomach virus (aka "stomach flu.") If you GOT a flu shot, and you get the stomach bug, DO NOT say the Flu Shot didn't work. It's a TOTALLY different thing.
• You CAN still get influenza if you got a Flu Shot. This happened to me. But my doctors told me if I hadn't had the shot, I might have died. It lessened the symptoms -- and I STILL had a 105-degree fever, pain, aches, chills, congestion, headache, fatigue and required hospitalization.

I'm sensitive to it because either one could be REALLY bad for my child. But there is a VERY clear difference in how they affect him. So if a child in his class has had the "flu" (influenza), there's a different protocol that we follow than if a classmate has had a stomach virus. It's important that we as a society not get lazy about our words and be clear about what our ailments really are. It really is a matter of life and death sometimes.