Under the Weather

Learning how to manage common illnesses with confidence and common sense is a great life skill and Under the Weather aims to teach you how to deal with common illnesses like colds, flu, earaches, tummy bugs and more.

Undertheweather.ie was developed using health information and advice from the HSE, as well as the experience of GPs and pharmacists from around Ireland.

The site helps you identify common illnesses, explain how long each one should last and what you can do to ease and conquer them. It also tells you what advice and products your pharmacist can provide, and when it’s time to seek the help of your GP.

The HSE decided to create Under the Weather to help build the health knowledge of everyone living in Ireland. Many people believe that antibiotics will help to treat a lot of common illnesses, like colds, flu, earaches, tummy bugs and rashes, when in fact antibiotics are useless against most of these infections – they’re caused by viruses, and antibiotics don’t work on a virus.

One long-term aim of the site is to reduce the amount of unnecessary antibiotics that are used in Ireland. Using antibiotics when they’re not needed can cause harm to the person, as well as creating stronger, resistant bugs that can make us all very ill. Also from a practical point of view, unnecessary antibiotics are simply a waste of money.

We should all be antibiotic aware, and only use them when we really needed. Ask your doctor for more information about this, or have a look at this web page on the main HSE site.

While Under the Weather is a useful resource, it’s important to remember that you should never replace the tailored advice you get from a health professional. If you are at all worried about yourself or your child, please call or visit your GP or your pharmacist.