C’mon, people, I appreciate the concern, really, but get a grip (or is that grippe?). It’s just the flu.

In most cases, you don’t need to see your doctor when you have a cold or the flu. However, if you have any of the symptoms below, seek medical advice.

• A cold that lasts for more than 10 days
• Earache or drainage from your ear
• Severe pain in your face or forehead
• Temperature above 102° F
• Shortness of breath
• Hoarseness, sore throat or a cough that won’t go away

Emphasis mine. The first five bullets never happened, the hoarseness lasted about three days last week, I never had much of a sore throat, and the cough is a lot better today (i.e., I didn’t do it much). I’ve got most of my energy back, and I think I’m mostly over it.

I think that there is a lot of wasted money in the health care system of people seeing doctors when there’s really not much that they can do. It also clogs up emergency rooms. It’s particularly bad when they bully them into prescribing antibiotics, which have no effect on a virus, and then they take half the course and quit, thus breeding more resistant bugs. I’m not the type to avoid a doctor if I need to see a doctor, but really folks, it’s just the flu.