What Exactly Is Freshers' Flu - And Why Do So Many Get It?

It's nan 2nd week of term. You've yet figured retired really to usage nan washing machine, your flatmates are starting to consciousness for illustration friends, and nan whirlwind of freshers' week is down you.

But conscionable arsenic things settee down, your pharynx starts to scratch, your chemoreceptor runs, and abruptly lectures are little astir learning and much astir trying not to cough louder than nan personification adjacent to you.

You were warned it would happen, but didn't expect it to deed rather truthful fast.

What's really going connected here? Why does everyone look to get freshers' flu successful nan first fewer weeks of term? And why do truthful galore opportunity it feels worse than nan mean cold?

"Freshers' flu is conscionable an assortment of communal acold viruses that travel and deed america each astatine nan aforesaid time," says Dr Zania Stamataki, subordinate professor of viral immunology astatine nan University of Birmingham.

It's not nan existent flu, and it's seldom serious. But erstwhile thousands of students get connected field they bring pinch them a cocktail of respiratory viruses.

Add packed speech theatres, soiled shared kitchens and late-night parties, and nan consequence is simply a activity of unwellness that spreads quickly.

Sheena Cruickshank, an immunologist and professor successful biomedical sciences astatine nan University of Manchester, describes it arsenic a "mixing pot" of infections.

"You're bringing group together from each complete nan world, putting them successful adjacent quarters, and exposing them to viruses they've ne'er encountered before," she says.

Respiratory viruses are perpetually evolving and moreover mini differences betwixt variants tin mean nan body's immune strategy doesn't recognise them, forcing it to commencement from scratch.

The immune strategy is nan body's earthy defence against infections. It's made up of a web of cells, tissues, and organs that activity together to observe harmful invaders for illustration viruses and bacteria, and thief nan assemblage conflict them off.

But during freshers' week your immune strategy is under-resourced and overworked.

That's because, arsenic Prof Cruickshank explains, "your diet, your level of activity, your level of stress, and slumber are each factors that impact immune functions."

Which, she recognises, are "not needfully nan first focus" for students successful nan early weeks of university.

Among these, accent plays a peculiarly disruptive role. The unit to settee in, make friends, negociate caller responsibilities, and support up pinch world demands tin quickly go overwhelming.

This triggers nan merchandise of cortisol, a accent hormone that suppresses immune responses.

"We've each had those times erstwhile you're ace stressed, you've sewage loads of deadlines, you work, work, work, you decorativeness each nan deadlines - and past you get ill," says Prof Cruickshank.

Stress tin besides effect nan magnitude of slumber you get, which besides impacts nan immune system.

But for galore students, nan unit to socialise and make friends during freshers' week outweighs nan request to rest.

"I didn't want to miss out," says Imogen Farmer, 19, a second-year student astatine nan University of Leeds.

She says she met up pinch friends each evening during freshers' week.

"I decidedly suffered pinch it aft nan first week, for illustration sore throat, runny nose, those emblematic symptoms, and it does linger for rather a while."

Imogen says it's been worthy it because "so overmuch of student culture, particularly during freshers' week, revolves astir nights out".

"That is really you meet a batch of group and enslaved pinch friends. So I did conscionable opportunity yes to everything."

But it's not conscionable deficiency of slumber which makes life difficult for your immune system.

After drinking a batch of intoxicant - which galore students will beryllium doing to flooded nerves - your assemblage produces less achromatic humor cells, which thief to conflict disconnected infections.

"A batch of group person nan misconception that if you're consuming alcohol, you slumber better. But you person higher accent and you slumber worse," says Dr Stamataki.

A mediocre fare tin besides weaken nan immune strategy and, for galore students, eating healthily isn't easy - particularly erstwhile skipping meals is simply a regular occurrence.

With truthful galore viruses around, you could beryllium stuck successful a speech betwixt 2 group who are sneezing, each infected pinch a different one. And you'd beryllium exposed to both.

Viruses tin past beryllium passed connected very easily, without you knowing (during nan incubation period), and earlier you announcement symptoms.

"Sometimes you deliberation you've gotten distant pinch it. And you haven't," Dr Stamataki warns.

"So you'll consciousness great. You'll spell and play rugby, you'll hug your friends and you'll person a bully clip but astatine nan aforesaid time, you'll beryllium transmitting."

She says that nan immune consequence wrong young group is "quite powerful" but it's constricted by nan truth they haven't been exposed to galore viruses yet.

While everything you travel crossed for nan first clip will make you sick, nan adjacent clip you travel crossed nan aforesaid virus, nan symptoms won't beryllium arsenic nasty.

You tin besides get 2 infections astatine once. This tin thief aliases inhibit your body.

Either you'll commencement to consciousness really atrocious - because your immune strategy is struggling to header - aliases your body's defences will commencement moving overtime to woody pinch nan invaders.

When that happens, nan immune strategy "is already ace pumped up," says Prof Cruickshank, because nan assemblage is engaged making chemic messengers called cytokines that thief to termination viruses.

If you're unlucky capable to get a 2nd infection soon aft you've sewage free of nan first one, it's usually because you're already rundown. That's erstwhile conditions for illustration bronchitis tin occur.

"If your symptoms are persisting for a really agelong clip aliases you felt for illustration you're getting amended and past you get sick again, it mightiness beryllium worthy getting immoderate aesculapian thief conscionable to cheque that," says Prof Cruickshank.

"If you spot spots astatine nan backmost of your throat, that's decidedly a motion that you've sewage strep pharynx and you mightiness request immoderate antibiotics," she adds.

Viruses for illustration colds and flu don't respond to antibiotics - these narcotics are only utilized to dainty immoderate types of bacterial infection.

While astir viruses are mild, immoderate tin beryllium acold much vulnerable and meningitis is simply a superior infection to watch retired for.

It tin look a batch for illustration freshers' flu, but if near untreated, it tin lead to seizures, encephalon harm and sepsis.

One student, from Wolverhampton, had her little legs and parts of her fingers amputated aft being struck down pinch it a week aft starting university.

Vaccines which thief protect against various types of meningitis are fixed to children, but it's still important to beryllium alert of nan symptoms, moreover if you've had nan jabs.

So what do you request to look retired for?

• a precocious somesthesia aliases fever
• being sick
• a headache
• a rash that does not slice erstwhile a solid is rolled complete it (but a rash will not ever develop)
• a stiff neck
• a dislike of agleam lights
• drowsiness aliases unresponsiveness
• seizures (fits)

Meningitis spreads successful a akin measurement to a acold - done adjacent interaction pinch personification carrying nan infection.

It causes inflammation of nan membranes surrounding nan encephalon and spinal cord, truthful if you recognise these symptoms, telephone 999 aliases spell to A&E consecutive away.

For galore students, nan unit to support going, moreover erstwhile sick, is difficult to ignore.

"You're pushing yourself truthful overmuch because that's what you're being told to do," says Emily Valentine, a 19-year-old student astatine nan University of Leeds.

"I thin to rest, but I cognize a batch of my friends effort to push themselves to spell to lectures, particularly successful nan first week," she adds.

A displacement to signaling lectures during nan pandemic has made it easier for students to drawback up pinch work.

But experts opportunity you should still springiness yourself clip to recover.

"It tin return your assemblage a while to get complete a really large battle from a virus," says Prof Cruickshank.