What is freshers flu? Here’s all you need to know about this illness

• Kimberly Rodrigues
• 23 September, 2022

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By: Kimberly Rodrigues

Many students across the UK have started their first term of university this week, and you are more likely to get ‘freshers flu’ as the name suggests, in your first few weeks of studying at university.

University students are bound to contract ‘freshers flu’ as their lives are filled with partying, making new friends, and socializing.

So, whether you are a fresher or a second-or third-year student, you may not be able to escape the dreaded infection.

Yet, students can probably avoid freshers flu this year, and there are many ways to go about this.

However, if you have already contracted the illness there are also many ways to boost your immune system before your lectures start in full swing.

It’s important to know that freshers flu is not actually a medical term but an awful cold, also known as student cold.

Here’s everything you need to know about freshers flu.

It is a combination of physical and psychological factors which can disrupt your immune system and cause you to feel ill for a week or two.

This flu is normally caused by a combination of things, including:

• A severe lack of sleep due to socializing and adjusting to a new lifestyle.

• Meeting many new people who could be carrying viruses that escape your immunity.

• Stress due to homesickness and anxiety caused by the experience of starting university.

• Drinking alcohol – an excess of it can cause a weakening of your immune system.

• Eating unhealthy food like fast food due to a lack of time, hangovers, and the fast-paced life of university students.

Symptoms of the flu according to the NHS include:

• Sudden high temperature

• Dry cough

• Sore throat

• Aches and pains

• Feeling tired or exhausted

• Headache

• Difficulty sleeping

• Loss of appetite

• Diarrhoea or stomach ache

• Feeling sick and being sick.

Treatment for freshers flu:

• Get plenty of sleep as your symptoms could get worse with a lack of sleep.
• Increase your fluid and water intake to avoid dehydration and ease the symptoms of the flu.
• Stick to a healthy diet that helps to boost your immune system. Eat plenty of vitamin-C-rich foods.
• Though there is no direct cure for freshers flu, you can make the symptoms of the flu more bearable, by taking painkillers like paracetamol and ibuprofen.

In case symptoms of the flu worsen, seek medical advice from your GP or visit the NHS website for more information.