Mark Jude Hyman
Wed Jul 12 16:20:13 EST 1995
>> Influenza is mostly a respiratory virus, which means if you have diarrhea
>> and vomitting, you don't have the flu, you have food poisoning.
> Just a question:
> So that means that there is not such thing as a "stomach flu"?
> Then what causes the stomach flu?
I think that we're getting caught up in terminology here. "Stomach flu" is
generally used to indicate symptoms, not as a diagnosis. It's not meant to
indicate that someone is suffering from a case of "stomach influenza." There
are many other viruses that can infect the gastrointestinal tract. A number of
bacteria can also cause nausea or other g.i. problems.
Regardless, either influenza or the "stomach flu" will make your day less than
Mark J. Hyman
Division of Molecular Virology
Baylor College of Medicine
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