3 questions...soup/flu/contagious?

Uh-uh. Seven questions.

1a. Soup provides some fluids and nutrients. The warmth is comforting.

1b. See 1a.

2. What makes you think your chances of contracting a flu are higher???? Your reasoning is flawed. I'll grant you that it was a mistake on your part to receive a vaccination while you have an active ongoing infection and your immune system is already compromised but it may not turn out too badly.

Also, I should add that the symptoms some people experience after a flu vaccination are NOT the flu. The whole point of a vaccination is to stimulate the immune system into producing antibodies. Your immune system may respond to the viral proteins in the vaccine and the "symptoms" are the evidence of that response. It's your own immune system that creates the symptoms. It takes two weeks to achieve immunity through vaccination. Please take good care of yourself until then.

3. Suppose your friend asks you hand him a water bottle. If you cough into your hand and then grasp the bottle, you will transfer influenza virus to the bottle. Your friend takes the bottle from you, takes a drink and sets the bottle down. The virus is now on his fingers and palm. A few moments later, your friend uses the same hand to scratch the corner of his mouth. The virus has now been transferred to him and will enter his upper respiratory tract from his mouth.

Viral transmission can take place through inanimate objects/surfaces as well as by direct contact with secretions. You see, depending on the specific strain AND the specific surface, a flu virus can survive anywhere from seconds to up to 48 hours. Hard, nonporous surfaces make it easier for a flu virus (24 hours) and soft, porous surfaces make it more difficult (20 minutes). And it was found that some flu viruses can survive on paper money for 17 days but mixed with human mucus, one type A strain remained active for 17 days. 17. On our skin, they can survive for up to 5 minutes. You're almost more likely to pick up the flu from anything else around you EXCEPT another person.

When you're sick you body is fighting off many germs, more so than on a normal day (your body is always fighting off germs). Soup, especially chicken, has no real health benefits that can "cure" you from your sickness. It does however have plenty of antioxidants and vitamins your body needs most when sick.

The heat of the broth helps soothe your throat and the soup is fairly easy to digest. Homemade chicken soup (be it with rice or noodles or plain) is best because it has less preservatives than the store-bought kind (even the store-bought organic kinds don't measure up to homemade).

There are many awesome chicken soup recipes out there, most are fairly easy to follow. Another thing about soup that makes it seem better for you when sick is that it is probably healthier than your normal daily diet. (Think about it, how often do you make sure to have more than one kind of veggie and plenty of protein in your meals?)

As for the flu being contagious with any kind of touch, that depends entirely on how often you wash your hands and if you cover your mouth when sneezing/coughing. Flu germs are air born, though, so touching things that a sick or infected person has also touched is not the only way to get sick yourself.

Since the flue is an infection of the nose, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs it can attack one or all of these areas at once, causing you to assume you're just "under the weather" before you are full out sick.

Your best bet for not getting the flu is to wash your hands regularly, take your vitamins, get a flu shot (if you're so inclined, they work for some people, not so much for others) and stay away from anyone else who is showing symptoms. If you get sick, douse yourself in chicken soup, hot blankets, tissues and plenty of fluids, being sure to rest as much as possible.