Dr. Clif CleavelandWhile Ebola viral disease dominates our headlines, prevention of seasonal influenza merits close, personal attention. Flu season typically runs from October to May with peak activity from December to February. We use the term “flu” lightly, but the disease can be severe or even fatal.
Influenza is transmitted by nasal secretions and droplets of mucus from the lungs. An infected person may cough into his hand, then pass the virus to the hand of another person, who then infects himself as he brings his hand to his own nose or mouth. For this reason, frequent hand washing or use of sanitizers reduces the spread of the virus.
Symptoms of influenza usually last several days and are characterized by fever, chills, muscular aches, cough and chest congestion. Days to weeks may be required to return to customary health. The illness may progress to pneumonia or set the stage for bacterial invasion of the lungs. Influenza also may lead to death from a pre-existing, chronic illness.
Calculating deaths due to influenza is complicated because states are not required to report such deaths among adults. But the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention say that, between 1976 and 2006, estimates of flu-associated deaths annually in the United States range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000.
Certain people are at higher risks of serious complications of influenza. These include young children, especially those under 2 years of age, elderly persons, pregnant women, persons with asthma, emphysema and chronic heart disease and those with a compromised immune system. This group would include people with HIV/AIDS, recipients of certain chemotherapeutic drugs, as well as people on long-term steroid therapy.