What is this unstoppable force with the capacity to wipe out tens of thousands of lives? More destructive than any war, taking no sides, showing no mercy, nonselective in its victims. This curse upon our population was the pandemic of influenza in 1918. So, what exactly is influenza, and why and how does is operate with such ferocity? This is most certainly a cautionary tale of what happened in the past and how it most certainly is a warning for our future.
The influenza or the flu as it is more commonly known is a transmittable respiratory disease triggered by the influenza virus. Currently there are 3 types of flu, influenza A, B, and C, with type A being the version of the virus that generates the killers H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2. The symptoms
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In all honesty, I was a disbeliever at first. Though all my family members and a lot of friends of mine had already gotten their shots, I was not sure that I wanted to expose my already weak respiratory system to a vaccine. I have a history of asthma and bronchitis and though I would be more susceptible to getting the flu, I had heard stories of people having a full-blown flu after taking the vaccine and that didn’t seem like something I wanted to willingly sign myself up for. I took the time to do some research and talk with my primary care physician and came to the conclusion that I would take the vaccine because my view was concurrent with health officials. Better to take it and be better equipped to fight the flu than to not take it and my body have nothing “in its bag of tricks” to help it fight the immune system bully that influenza is. I did have most of the actual symptoms of the flu after taking the shot, but since getting the vaccination I have been around other people who have been infected, and I have little to no symptoms of influenza. In other words, it’s always better to have and not need, then need and not have. I think that is true of the flu