Got fresher flu? It’s probably Covid-19
Fresher flu is the ill-famed sickness that comes after drinking till 3am for a week straight. But this year, fresher flu isn’t a typical cold, it’s Covid-19.
As cases grow, many students have been confusing their Covid-19 symptoms for fresher flu, the non-medical term for drinking till you drop. However, Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Medical Association and Christchurch GP, Dr. Vanessa Weenink, said, “If you think you’ve got fresher flu, you’ve probably got Covid.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that people are getting them mixed up.” Weenink said you can’t tell the difference between fresher flu and Covid-19 because “it's one in the same”. She said that Covid-19 symptoms are usually “a headache, sore throat, and tiredness. Those are really common for a cold and that’s what people call a fresher flu.” Weenink advised students to assume their fresher flu is Covid-19, because it most likely is.
Fresher flu is not simply a cold, it can be “one of 100 viruses that cause cold symptoms”, the most prevalent right now being Covid-19. “The reason people get fresher flu is because a whole lot of people come from all parts of the country and they bring together viruses that they’re carrying.” Healthcare workers see the same pattern of students coming together and getting exposed to new viruses each year. Weenink said late nights, alcohol consumption and a “general exchange of aerosols” AKA partying hard, means your body is less likely to fight off a virus.
Weenink said, “We’re seeing huge numbers in the student populations of Covid, we know that there's a lot going around … as soon as we heard that it had got into the halls of residence, we just knew it would spread like wild fire.”
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said, “Early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat and a runny nose. Even if a student thinks these symptoms could be related to something else, including the ‘fresher flu’, we would still urge them to get a test, considering the rapid spread of Omicron.”
“The prevalence of fresher flu sickness is increased by students living in close proximity and other social behaviours that increase the transmission of viruses.” The spokesperson said fresher flu is “thought to be caused by a newly encountered viral illness”.
The Ministry acknowledged the liveliness of the start of uni, “but reminds students that we are living in a pandemic, and everyone needs to play their part to reduce the spread of the virus”.
