There are a couple of different ways that the flu virus can change as time passes. The flu virus changes a little bit at a time constantly so that it can continue to survive. The flu virus is extremely good at doing what it takes to continue to exist. The flu virus can evolve like few other things in this world.
One of these two ways in which the flu virus can change is knows as antigenic drift. This is what happens when the flu virus changes just a tiny bit time after time, and when this happens many strains of the flu virus can be created. This is extremely dangerous in the population of the world because these strains are often able to do severe damage to the human body because no one has any immunity to the new flu virus.
Generally when a person gets infected with the flu virus, any flu virus they will begin to build immunities to the flu virus and others that are related to it. When new strains of the flu virus are made by this method they will not be recognized by your body and this could lead to very serious illness or even death.
This is actually the main reason why we all get the flu virus so many times. The flu virus is not something that we get only once and then get over it is something that we get many times throughout the course of our lives because each flu virus that we get is a different strain that the body sees as new. That is why if you are older you need to get a flu virus vaccine each and every year in order to be protected all of the time.
The other way that a flu virus changes is from what is called an antigenic shift. This is not a slow change in the flu virus, it is a shift in the flu virus that is huge and fast. It is a sudden things rather than a gradual one. This type of shift in the flu virus also leaves us humans with little or no immunity to it.
The type A flu virus is subject to either one of these types of changes while the type B flu virus will only change by the former antigenic drift method. The flu virus is something we all have to deal with and that we all should learn more about in order to start preventing it from spreading more than it already does.
How far will this latest deadly flu strain come in its travels: It all depends on who you ask about this very important subject. Some bird experts say that it will get as far as the United States in North America because of the way that birds migrate. We all know that birds migrate but only the experts know the patters in which they do this and it is this pattern that is making the deadly flu seem more likely to hit North America sooner or later.
The deadly flu is one that we all hope will just go away but it does not look like this is likely to happen anytime soon. The birds that are carrying this deadly flu all spend time in the same places while migrating. These overlapping migration patterns are going to be what makes it possible for use to get the deadly flu.
Already the deadly flu has gone from Asia to Europe, which is bad news for any birds that are suspected of having it, but very few people have caught the deadly flu so far. Very few people that get the deadly flu can pass it on to others but what is causing fear about the deadly flu among many people is the fact that this deadly flu cold mutate into another more dangerous strain of deadly flu.
If the deadly flu were to change and mutate we cold be looking at something potentially more dangerous than the Spanish flu of 1918. That deadly flu killed as may as 40 million people all over the world and this deadly flu could do even more if it comes into being.
Experts claim that it is a pretty sure thing that the deadly flu will get at least as far as Africa in this year alone. After that anywhere is as good a guess as others for the deadly flu to spread to.
Many of the birds that are already infected with the deadly flu live in china right now and they will migrate to many other countries. These birds, or at least many of them travel all over the world every single year only this year they are carrying the deadly flu or at least they are carrying the potential of the deadly flu.
In 1957 there was a very serious Asian flu pandemic that killed anywhere from 1 million people to 4 million people. Different bodies give different numbers but even at one million you are looking at a huge number of people. Anyway this Asian flu strain was finally dealt with and all was fine again until October of 2004. This is the year that an American lab sent out samples of this deadly, deadly strain of Asian flu to different labs all over the world. Now I am not talking about a few measly deadly samples of the Asian flu, I am talking about 3,700 samples of the Asian flu. Did you get the all over the world part?
Now of course the US is scrambling to try to fix this horrible mistake, they are doing their best to get all of these wayward samples of the Asian flu destroyed but, well, good luck. He labs did not know they were going to be getting such a potentially deadly virus sent to them. So how did this happen you ask?
There is a body known as the College of American Pathologists and what they do every now and then is send different viruses to labs all over the world. They do this so that these labs can test to see how good they are doing. The CAP is supposed to know what they are sending out though, it is only the receiving lab that is in the dark. Well, the CAP thought that they were sending out a regular old Influenza A virus but ooops, not so much. Instead they sent out one of the most deadly viruses in human history: the Asian flu.
The thing is that if this Asian flu has gotten out or if it does the world could be in big trouble. None of us who are born after 1968 will be able to fend this Asian flu off at all, we all have absolutely zero immunity to it, this means that the Asian flu will hit us just as hard or worse than it did the people in 1957.
Supposedly this whole Asian flu episode is some sort of misunderstanding, though how this could have happened really is still a mystery. How could 3,700 samples of Asian flu get put out into the world by accident? They were sent to Asia, the Middle East, North America and South America as well as Europe.
What strikes fear into the heart of so many in the know is that these test kits that got sent out were treated like other test kits are treated which is not a good thing when what they contain is a deadly Asian flu. These samples of the Asian flu should have been handled with extreme care and a high level of containment but they were not. Since these types of kits usually contain something harmless they were treated as such. This doe not bode well for us, the public when it comes to protecting us from the Asian flu.
The flu vaccine could save your life or the life of your parents or children. Not everyone is well equipped to deal with catching the flu and this is a very contagious and a very determined virus. The only way to truly prevent the flu in your home is to make sure that the whole family gets the flu vaccine each and every year.
Children and elderly people are especially susceptible to getting a deadly case of the flu, that is why it is recommended that they get the flu vaccine given to them every year before flu season. Flu season is generally from fall to spring. If you are in a high-risk situation you should get your flu vaccine as soon as you can, hopefully in September sometime.
There is a reason that there is a new flu vaccine put out each year and it is not just so that the drug companies can make more money. The flu as a virus is always changing and as soon as it changes the flu vaccine that you have already gotten will no longer be effective at stopping this flu. That is why each year scientists look at the likely strains of the flu to hit and then make up a flu vaccine to combat them in particular.
Even if you get the flu vaccine this year you could still catch the flu. This is because not all of the flu strains can be put into every flu vaccine. So what you get with the flu vaccine is the most likely strains to appear that year, if a different strain does appear then you could catch it because you have not had the flu vaccine for that one strain.
A flu vaccine does lower your chances considerably, if you do get the flu vaccine that is put out every year you will probably not get the flu. It comes down to chances. Without the flu vaccine your chances of getting the flu are huge and with the flu vaccine they are only a fraction of what they were before. These are good odds and they are definitely good enough that you should all be contacting your doctor about getting your flu vaccine today.
The flu vaccine is easy to get, all you need to do is phone your doctor and make an appointment. Let them know that you want to come in for your flu vaccine and they will tell you if they have any available to give you. IF they do you can make an appointment to go in and get your flu vaccine and if not you may have to wait a little longer.
Was your latest bout of the stomach flu really the stomach flu or was it some other virus that found its way into your intestines? What about your kids? They get sick and throw up all the time is it always the stomach flu? Actually, probably not. It turns out that what most of us think of as the stomach flu is really something else entirely, a gastrointestinal virus actually. The thing is that a flu is actually a respiratory illness but since everyone considers the stomach flu that horrible sickly diarrhea sickness even some doctors have started calling it the flu just so people know what they are talking about.
If you have children then you know how much this “stomach flu” can affect the way they are feeling and the way they are acting. Many kids will act up more when they are not feeling too good and in most cases the actual name of the virus they have is not the stomach flu but Rotavirus. At least in small children. This is not the only kind of stomach flu that can cause vomiting and diarrhea though, your child could be sick due to some nasty bacteria that found its way in or even some parasites. If your child is very ill for more than a couple of days or is running a fever it is always better to be safe than sorry and take your child to the doctor at once.
A lot of times parents don’t want to call the doctor about the latest bout of stomach flu running through the house but it is okay to if you are worried. That is what doctors are there for, they are there to support you and let you know what is gong on so that you don’t have to worry about it any more.
And that silly notion that the stomach flu is only supposed to last a day or so is totally off the mark. Most people stay sick with the stomach flu for days even a week, it all depends on which kind of stomach flu that you or your child gets because some are just stronger and ickier than others.
Whatever you do or don’t do when your child has the stomach flu you need to keep him or her hydrated. Lots and lots of water is going to make the stomach flu go away that much sooner and it is going to keep your child feeling better than they would with out the fluids. This is even more important if your child has diarrhea, in this cases it can get downright dangerous if your son or daughter is not getting enough water. You might want to look into getting some Pediasure, this will help with the hydration issue.