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The Issue with Influenza
The flu is a deadly disease- and it can be hard to predict. Story by Phoenix Boggs
Look at that empty desk in your classroom. Is that kid skipping class? Are they on vacation? Or do they have the flu? If they are home sick with the flu, they may be
doing you a big favor.
Most people know that the flu can be spread when a
sick person coughs, sneezes, or talks. But the flu has other contagious capabilities other than just direct contact. If a sick person touches a surface, they may transfer the flu virus onto it, leading the next person who comes into contact with that surface susceptible to becoming sick themselves. So if your classmate decided to stay home rather than risk infecting you, that was probably the best choice.
The flu is common because it is contagious, but also because it mutates rapidly.
The influenza tends to take a new form every season because it has more “chaperones” than other viruses do. Basically, when the flu virus mutates its proteins, it is very good at folding up again and resuming its work. This capability makes the flu one of the most unpredictable and persistent viruses in the world.
There is simply no way to know with absolute certainty the form that the influenza virus might take every flu season. Influenza’s ability to mutate every season is the reason why you have to get the flu shot so often.
The flu virus is one of the most prevalent in the world. This prevalence has led many people to underestimate the danger of influenza. Globally, the annual death toll from influenza can reach highs of 500,000, and a minimum of three million people contract the illness. Every year, around 10% of adults and a third of children in the world come down with the flu.
Sometimes, scientists get the vaccine just right. Other times, they are not so successful. Last winter is an example: after that deadly flu season, experts are warning that the virus should not be underestimated. The flu vaccine was 40% effective. 80,000 Americans lost their lives; it was the highest national toll in years. Of that 80,000, 180 were babies or children, which is doubly shocking. The flu virus tends to hit hard with the very young, but the number of children who died that winter was unprecedented. It was the highest
influenza death toll for children ever recorded with modern surveillance methods by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The 2014-2015 winter is another example- the influenza vaccine for that year was only 19% effective, yet many fewer Americans died because the virus that year was not especially severe.
Clearly, vaccine effectiveness varies each year. In the advancement of these life-saving preventatives, scientists either hit or miss.
Another reason that the efficiency of influenza vaccines fluctuates so much is because it takes 6 months to develop the vaccines. They have to be ready to go by the time flu season starts, which means that scientists predict 6 months early which strains will likely occur during flu season.. Because of this long development period, influenza viruses have a 6-month window in which to mutate beyond recognition, and the developers of the anti-virus can’t change the vaccine to respond to mutations during that window.
But what about the flu season that
we’re in right now? At least 69,000 people
the United States have ended up in the hospital so
a statistic that reinforces how dangerous the flu truly is. At this point, there is no way of telling how severe this season is compared to previous years. There is also no way of telling if we are at the peak of this season or if we are approaching it. The “peak” is defined as the time in the flu season when the most diagnoses are made. While the CDC puts out weekly reports of influenza data every Friday, we won’t be able to consider the data as a whole until this flu season is complete, which could come some time this month.
There are some years where either the vaccines are especially accurate or the virus is not especially severe, and in those years the death toll is low. Then there are also years in which the vaccines fail to hit the mark with a tough virus, and those years are examples of how harsh the disease can be. It is dangerous to underestimate a virus as deadly as influenza.
i n f a r ,
Common Myths about Influenza and Vaccination
“The flu shot FACT:
“The flu shot causes the
“The flu is not a serious disease.”
9
does not work.”
While vaccine
effectiveness can flu.”
FACT:
FACT:
vary, the shot is your best bet at flu protection.
The flu shot cannot cause the flu. Serious problems are very rare.
Each year in the US, about 200,000 people are hospitalized with flu.