Influenza – the flu – is more than a bad cold, although sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between a bad cold and a mild flu. Flu usually comes on much more suddenly, with high fever, chills and muscle ache. Flu hits faster, harder, and lasts longer than a cold and it is harder to recover from. It affects the respiratory system and the whole body. Flu can lead to serious lung infections.
The virus
There are three types of flu virus: A, B, and C. Influenza A is more likely to cause widespread epidemics (such as the Spanish Flu in 1918 and the Moscow Flu in 1999), while Influenza B virus is responsible for regional outbreaks (such as the Hong Kong Flu in 1968). Other types of influenza viruses occur in animals and birds. When these viruses are transmitted between species (from bird to human, for example), they can cause new virus types that can be extremely dangerous for humans.
Avian influenza
Medical scientists are predicting that avian flu (bird flu) may be the next major pandemic to occur on our planet. This flu is a very infectious disease of birds caused by the Influenza A virus. All birds are susceptible to the flu but wild ducks, domestic chickens and turkeys are particularly at risk to a very fatal type of the virus. Control of the outbreak means quarantining infected farms and the destruction of domestic poultry flocks, resulting in a great economic loss to farmers and governments.
The major concern for world health authorities is that the bird flu virus will mix with a human flu virus and mutate rapidly, forming a new viral strain deadly to humans by human-to-human contact. Populations will not have immunity to the new virus and will be susceptible to severe illness and death before a vaccine can be developed to protect them.
There have been recent alarms of bird flu being transmitted directly to humans in Hong Kong in 1997 and 2003, the Netherlands in 2003 and Vietnam in 2004. The World Health Organisation has a global influenza network that monitors outbreaks of flu around the world and attempts to act swiftly in cooperation with national health organisations to restrain the spread of epidemics before they become pandemics.
How do you prevent the flu?
Vaccination is the only effective way to prevent and control influenza. Vaccination works by stimulating your body's production of antibodies to a particular infection –causing agent (such as a virus), so that you then have increased resistance if you are exposed to the real virus.
You can still get the flu after having a flu vaccine but you will be far less sick than someone who has flu and has not received the vaccine. The vaccine reduces the severity of the symptoms and protects you against complications that might develop. Flu vaccine does not protect you from other viruses that sometimes feel like the flu.
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