Influenza, or the flu, attacks up to one people annually. In the US, it kills 20,000 , most of whom are children or elderly. Occasionally flu becomes pandemic: in 1918, it killed 20 people worldwide. The flu is a very contagious infection spread through the air by coughing, sneezing, simply talking. It is not caused by getting in a rainstorm or by sleeping with the or air-conditioning on.
The incubation period is about days. It doesn’t sneak up on you, like cold does. All of a sudden, you feel , you have a high fever, you have chills, cough frequently and forcefully, your throat is sore, your body aches.
For most adults, the treatment to simply wait it out: stay home, get of bed rest, drink lots of fluids, and over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, pain-killers, and nasal . Symptoms usually go away within two weeks. For elderly and young, the initial viral infection may a bacterial infection with deadly consequences, because the becomes too weak to battle the disease. The rate for the general population is about one 1,000. Those most susceptible to severe effects of flu are people over 65 and people with heart or lung problems, such as asthma.
Flu in the US is usually December to March. best prevention, of course, is to stay away infected people. Since that is almost impossible, the best preventive strategy is to get an annual shot. This vaccine reduces the number of people get infected—and who die—yearly.