influenza

Influenza, “the flu,” is more than a bad cold.  Seasonal outbreaks yearly cause not only tremendous misery and debility but huge numbers of hospital admissions and deaths.

I've been in science communication for over 8 years. If there's only one thing I learned, it's this: People don't respond to facts.

By Matthew Motta, University of Pennsylvania;

We had a really bad flu season this year. The CDC just announced that about 80,000 Americans were killed.

Our current vaccination rate is around 38%, despite a flu season last year that took 80,000 lives.

Making the rounds in the news media is a serious medical condition called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). It predominantly occurs in children causing among other symptoms weakness in the extremities.

The Spanish Flu of 1918, which caused a pandemic, is estimated to have killed about 2% of the world population, a death toll greater than the military deaths of World

The one silver lining from this truly awful flu season is that the worst just might be over. 

Always question the headlines. They are often wrong. Here's a recent one from AOL News:

This flu season, one product is making its comeback: orange juice. Sales of OJ seem to have gotten a boost — after years of decline — due to consumers' fears of getting the dreaded illness.