Flu

[lydilia]

I`m at school today, even though it`s Saturday. It`s PTA meeting day, which means all the students and staff have to come to school even though it`s also midterms so the students just took a couple tests in the morning and went home. Most of the teachers were expecting to have nothing to do, but then surprise! Swine flu

Comments

[superquail]

The pattern with this flu has been a bit strange. Right now there are estimates saying that upwards of 100,000 people in the US have been infected, but because most symptoms are so mild, people don't seek out medical help and don't get tested. To me, this sounds like it's not such a bad thing because it means that should this virus mutate, all those people who got the milder strain will probably all ready have some resistance if not a complete immunity to it.

The weird part is that while in a "normal" flu season the majority of those getting sick are under age 3 or over age 60, the majority of cases of this flu are in people between the ages of 5 and 24. I don't know what that means. But the people who have died of this flu, all had an underlying medical condition like asthma or diabetes which made them more vulnerable.

[lydilia]

The explanations I've heard for why young people are more at risk is that the new flu makes your immune system go into overdrive, overzealously damaging your own body in it's fight against a disease there aren't any antibodies to. People with stronger immune systems, i.e. young people, are more at risk when their own bodies are doing the damage.

[superquail]

That's exactly what happened during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed millions of people, which makes me wonder why during an ordinary flu season its the people with weak immune systems who are most susceptible. Weird disease.

[emmling]

Laura's school got canceled for the week!

So did mine, but all us teachers have to go in to work anyway.

[lydilia]

Mine too! I'm not sure whether I have to go to work or not.