{"id":6968,"date":"2014-10-23T13:18:20","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T17:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ehealth.cooperhealth.org\/?p=6968"},"modified":"2014-10-23T13:18:20","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T17:18:20","slug":"understanding-the-influenza-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/ehealth\/2014\/10\/23\/understanding-the-influenza-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Influenza Virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Daniel J. Hyman, DO<\/a>
\n Head, Division of General Internal Medicine<\/a>
\nCooper University Health Care<\/p>\n

As the weather turns colder, it\u2019s that time of year to start thinking about influenza (flu) prevention. While people often associate everything from gastrointestinal illness to routine colds with influenza, it\u2019s important to understand what it is and what it isn\u2019t in order to protect yourself and your family.<\/p>\n

Influenza is a very contagious illness that tends to occur in outbreaks. The majority of illnesses caused by the flu are self-limited and often mild to moderate in severity. There are three types of influenza viruses: A, B and C. Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease almost every winter in the United States. The emergence of a new and very different influenza virus to infect people can cause influenza outbreaks and epidemics. Influenza type C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and are not thought to cause epidemics.<\/p>\n

The typical flu symptoms include acute onset of muscle aches, fever as high as 103 degrees Fahrenheit, upper respiratory symptoms including sore throat, runny nose, cough and extreme fatigue.<\/p>\n

Gastrointestinal symptoms are less common in flu. Although often called the \u201cstomach flu,\u201d these type of illnesses that cause nausea, diarrhea and vomiting are typically caused by rotaviruses or bacteria and aren\u2019t related to influenza.<\/p>\n

While everyone should be concerned with influenza, certain people are at high risk for complications of the flu. This includes the elderly, the very young and people with chronic medical conditions including diabetes, COPD and those who are immune compromised.<\/p>\n

Prevention is the key to decreasing the incidents of outbreaks and epidemics. The Centers for Disease Control recommends flu vaccine for all individuals six months and older. The vaccination period for the flu begins in August and ends in April. There is a two-week lag time between receiving the vaccine and having adequate immunity against the flu. Several vaccines are available for influenza A and B. These vaccines contain antigens developed based on best medical knowledge from prior history of influenza outbreaks. An\u00a0antigen<\/em>\u00a0is any substance that causes your immune system to produce antibodies against it.<\/p>\n

Available vaccines are:<\/p>\n