The advertiser paid a fee to promote this sponsored article and may have influenced or authored the content. The flu usually appears with symptoms like headaches, fever, running nose, cough, and body aches. Dr. Shajahan says that the number one thing you can do to avoid getting the flu is to get your flu vaccine and social distance from others. Dr. Shajahan suggests that as soon as your temperature starts reaching 101, you will want to take medication such as Ibuprofen to bring it down. Those with the flu are usually contagious the day before they show symptoms and 5 to 7 days after.