Could I have caught the flu from passengers?

I flew to a warm climate from a very cold one. I left Monday of last week and returned the next day. 3 days (during this 3 days I had no contact with the public) later I woke up with a sore throat which then evovled into a horrible fever, chills and non-stop coughing. My question is, if I caught this from the passengers on the plane, wouldn't I have been sick the next day, not 3 days later?

Also, I had been smoking an abnormally high amount of cigarettes upon my return. Is it possible I got sick with the symptoms I described because of excessive smoking? Is that possible?

The symptoms you have aren't related to how much you've been smoking. Chances are very good you caught the flu on the plane. When a germ enters the body, it doesn't immediately make you sick. It needs to incubate and multiply before you'll even feel symptoms. Once you have enough of the organism living inside you, you'll start to experience symptoms. That why you'll start to feel better but still have some symptoms as a cold, flu, etc. goes away. The less of the organism, the less the symptoms. Three days is just about right, from the time of infection, to the time symptoms start to present themselves.

its possible that the people on the plane got you sick, the germs sometimes need to grow and stuff before they show symptoms. About the smoking i doubt it had anything to do with it but it is bad for you so it will do something else later. so i would quiet that if you don't want to get even more sick.

Almost everytime I fly I get an upper respiratory infection...planes are very dirty.

if you didnt wash your hands then yes. easily. wash hands dont touch your face after getting off a bus.

you can also get sick from changing climates.

it was a delay and since thats a breading ground for germs it must be the place. smoking probably sped up the sickness which is why it didnt take a week to get sick only 3 days from when it happened.

Flu is a respiratory infection caused by a number of viruses. The viruses pass through the air and enter your body through your nose or mouth

Some illnesses have incubation periods of up to 2 weeks!!! That means you come in contact with the bug, and 2 weeks later come down with it.

I'm pretty sure cigarettes aren't good for the immune system.. but i'm not 100% sure about that.

Colds and Flu can germinate in your body for a week before you show any symptoms. You could have caught this bug BEFORE you even got on the plane.

The flu has an incubation period of 1 - 3 days, meaning that 1 to 3 days after exposure you will experience signs of disease if infected. Most likely you caught it from a passenger as its a disese that is easily passed.

Smoking is not likely to have caused the symptoms but it does make you more suseptible to diseases by lowering your immune system's response.

yes -if you've had your symptoms for less than 3 days, see your doctor for Tamiflu. otherwise, treat your symptoms and rest.

Planes, public transport and shools are the best places to catch colds and flu: especially planes because air is recirculated.

You normally have symptons within 24 hrs but it may have been triggered by a later drop in immunity (overtired, alcohol, exposure to cold etc)

The flu won't kill you but puts major hurt on smokers.