This man flu is no laughing matter

However, I have always seen man flu as the invention of grumpy, vengeful women. What's the idea behind it? That all men are pathetic weaklings and women the superior race? This is both patronising and delusional. After all, there are plenty of female hypochondriacs around. Why beat men up, especially when they're feeling rough?

Then my husband came down with the worst case of man flu ever seen. He had no symptoms whatsoever, unless you count truly thespian "coughing" and the sort of lethargy only previously witnessed in Victorian ladies suffering from a fainting fit. When he finally agreed to see the GP, I thought, shocked: "Maybe he really is ill." But the doctor said it was just a virus and there was nothing to be done. I gave full vent to my ridicule, cackling to everyone I knew about my misfortune at having this skiver on my hands.

A week later and things looked a bit different. My poor husband, having received nothing but harsh words and withering looks from his wife, was rushed to hospital for a chest X-ray and prescribed antibiotics for an acute chest infection. This did not make me look good. I began slightly to regret telling my mother-in-law that her son was a malingerer and a wastrel who had ruined my Christmas.

It now seems likely that this was a case of "Australian" flu, the H3N2 Brisbane 10 strain, on the rise in 11 countries and predicted to reach epidemic levels here by March. Oops. The worst thing about this strain is that the early symptoms are consistent with man flu: general malaise, tiredness, aching. You could be forgiven for thinking that someone with these symptoms was malingering. Because it's not until the second week that they erupt into something dangerous. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Meanwhile my husband is lying in his bed murmuring: "Do you think that your underestimating my condition made it worse?" Yes, yes, darling, I'm sure it did. I will pay for this for a long time to come. Chicken soup, anyone?