Seasonal Flu

This year, for a lot of reasons, flu is getting a lot of attention.

But what most people don’t realize is that every fall and winter flu is a problem that has to be managed. Somewhere between five and 20 percent of the country’s population gets the flu every year, which amounts to millions of cases. For most, the flu is a few days of feeling as if you’ve been hit by a truck. For some, flu leads to dangerous complications. What’s the difference, who’s at risk and how do you manage that risk? Read on.

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Sep

2009

What Is The Flu?

Seasonal

Sunday, September 20, 2009 05:03 PM

Simply put, the flu is a respiratory infection, meaning it centers around your lungs. It’s caused by different influenza viruses, which is why there are different kinds of flu.

Most of these strains behave similarly and are often lumped into a category called seasonal flu. Occasionally a new virus will appear, causing the medical community to take extra precautions until more is known about the behavior of that flu, which is why you are hearing so much about H1N1 (swine) flu.

Because it’s a virus, you can’t treat it with antibiotics, which only work on bacteria-caused illnesses.

Flu is spread through the air and is highly contagious. When a person with the flu coughs or sneezes, the virus can be inhaled by anyone nearby. The virus can enter your body through your mouth, nose and even your eyes.

Children are often the first to get flu and play a major role in passing it along to others. Every year, during flu season, which is considered primarily to be the fall and winter months, 15 to 60 million cases are reported in the United States.

Out of that number only about 200,000 become serious enough to be hospitalized and about 40,000 die from complications. Most of those who develop complications are older adults and young children.

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