The symptoms of swine flu are generally the same as those of ordinary flu, but may cause more serious complications.
The typical symptoms are:
sudden fever (a high body temperature of 38C/100.4F or above), and
sudden cough.
(go to How to take someone's temperature if you are unsure how to use a thermometer).
Other swine flu symptoms may include:
Checking symptoms
If you have flu-like symptoms and are concerned that you may have swine flu:
Stay at home and check your symptoms using the National Pandemic Flu Service.
Call your GP directly if:
- you have a serious underlying illness,
- you are pregnant,
- you have a sick child under one year of
age,
- your condition suddenly gets much
worse, or
- your condition is still getting worse
after seven days (five for a child).
Note: the National Pandemic Flu Service is a new online service that will assess your symptoms and, if required, provide an authorisation number that can be used to collect antiviral medication from a local collection point. For those who do not have internet access, the same service can be accessed by telephone on:
Telephone: 0800 1 513 100
Minicom: 0800 1 513 200
