to wonder what it is that makes flu so scary?

[bubbleymummy]

DH and I were chatting about this today. We all take risks with our health every day. People do things that they know increase their risk of different types of cancer and heart disease such as drink alcohol, smoke, eat unhealthy food etc . We get into our cars and drive, some people participate in risk sports..why is it that the idea of flu gets people so worked up? Is it purely the media coverage at the moment? When you look at the figures, catching flu should really be quite low down in our list of worries but yet so many people seem to be worrying about it. Why is that?

Because the things you list above are choices, flu is not.

Because this flu is putting a disproportionate number of young people in hospital.

Because even the doctors I know have been quite worried over it.

I do think the media has been hyping the whole thing (as ever), but people have got used to feeling safe from diseease because of all the vaccinations etc available. The exceptions are things like cancer which are a Big Deal but relatively rare until you reach a certain age. People are scared of this flu because it could happen to them, and they are not in control, and it seems terribly everyday but can have unpredictable results.

Infuenza can kill you.

Some people get 2 days of sniffles, announce they have flu and take a day off work coz they have 'a touch of flu'.

Because you can catch it whilst doing absolutely nothing to increase your risk of ill health or injury, and it is a simple, common disease which can kill.

I guess because of the number of people who die of it, probably.

because the number of people who are dying from it who don't have underlying health problems is increasing...

in my first half hour back in work today I heard of 2 colleagues who had relatives who had died from flu in the past week!

Media hype aside, I think it's because when you really do have it you feel so bloody ill that if you didn't know otherwise you would think you were dying. It also takes weeks to really fully recover from it.

I don't agree Slightly Tubby - anyone can get cancer. No one has control over that and it kills tens of thousands of people every year - flu does not kill anywhere near that and swine flu has killed even fewer than seasonal flu - 480 (iirc) last year and 34 this year.

Because after the first world war there was an epidemic and more people died than during the war. And an awful lot of them were young.

"Because you can catch it whilst doing absolutely nothing to increase your risk of ill health or injury, and it is a simple, common disease which can kill."

How many of us genuinely do that? ie. never drink, only eat healthy food, never drive anywhere or even cross a road for that matter? We all put ourselves at risk everyday - and at much greater risk than flu.

Yes, Downy, at at time when there was overall poor health and nutrition and when there were no antibiotics to treat secondary infections.

You're right bubbly - but cancer seems such a big deal people often can't imagine it happening to them. The flu is every day. I'm not saying it is sensible but it is why some people are scared.

brb- ds2 woken up!

I think slightly tubby is right, most of us have had the flu at some point so it is more comprehensible.

1918 flu edpidemic.

"The 1918 flu pandemic (the Spanish Flu) was an unusually severe and deadly influenza pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin.[1] Most victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or weakened patients. The flu pandemic was implicated in the outbreak of encephalitis lethargica in the 1920s.[2]

The pandemic lasted from June 1917 to December 1920,[3] spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. Between 50 and 100 million died, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.[4][5][6][7][8] An estimated 50 million people, about 3% of the world's population (1.8 billion at the time [9]), died of the disease. Some 500 million, or 28% (≈1/4) were infected."

Think I worry about it as last time I caught it I had pneumonia as a complication. Was admitted to hospital where the sister of the ward held my hand all night as she thought I was going to die in the night, her words not mine.

While I was in there 3 fit and healthy people in their 20's died of it just on my ward.

Just my experience, but enough to make me slightly cautious of catching it again.

I'm absolutely petrified of flu because one of my sons has chronic asthma. He's had the flu jab but even that doesn't mean he's 100% protected. I've never had flu but my OH had it over christmas and in the 16 yrs we've been together I've never seen him so ill. He's normally a very healthy person but even now after nearly two weeks my OH is nowhere near over the flu.
My DS has gone to bed tonight not feeling well and with an awful cough so we are checking on him all the time.
The worries of being a parent!

Yes oldlady - I think a report brought out a few years ago showed that the majority of those deaths were linked to secondary infections such as pneumonia which there were no antibiotics to treat. Also, many of those 'healthy young people' had just returned from a war where they fought in trenches in appalling sanitary conditions and with limited food.

Regardless of the thought of dying from flu (seasonal or swine) I just dont want to get it.

I have had flu 3 times in my life and as far as illnesses go - its the worse bloody thing ever. Real proper flu - is bloody awful to live through and there are few other illnesses a person is likely to catch that will make them feel so awful. Its a horrendous illness.

Even when I was at deaths door with Septicaemia blood poisoning - a complication of a another unrelated to flu illness - I actually dont think I felt as "ill" as when I had the flu.

So I am scared of getting flu because its shit as much as I am scared of getting it incase I die from it.

I totally understand not wanting to catch it and worrying about your children if they are sick, I suppose it's more the scale of worry. It just seems out of proportion when you look at the actual figures. Yes, I know some younger 'healthy' people have died from it but some young, healthy people die from complications of flu (such as pneumonia) every year and there isn't the same level of fear at all. I'm going to blame the media :)

From the link I gave above:

"Tissue samples from frozen victims were used to reproduce the virus for study. Among the conclusions of this research is that the virus kills via a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system) which perhaps explains its unusually severe nature and the concentrated age profile of its victims. The strong immune systems of young adults ravaged the body, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths."

Also:

"This huge death toll was caused by an extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine storms.[4] Symptoms in 1918 were so unusual that initially influenza was misdiagnosed as dengue, cholera, or typhoid. One observer wrote, "One of the most striking of the complications was hemorrhage from mucous membranes, especially from the nose, stomach, and intestine. Bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhages in the skin also occurred."[26] The majority of deaths were from bacterial pneumonia, a secondary infection caused by influenza, but the virus also killed people directly, causing massive hemorrhages and edema in the lung.[23]"

So yes, antibiotics would have made a difference. :)

Oh the media is definitely OTT - I remember last year one paper running a headline about scarecity of Tamiflu above a picture of riots are Sangatte. Very irresponsible.

But I have 2 friends who are doctors at major hospitals. One tells me their ICU has a lot of flu victims in it (more than normal I assume or why would she remark on it) the other is a paediatrician and told me last year that the swine flu was particularly bad for children. I probably still wouldn't have given it too much thought except my DD2 is showing signs of asthma when she gets mild colds and I shudder to think what flu could do to her. That's making me a bit nervy, although I am really not worried about me or my more robust DD!

Agree with Mum72. I have had tonsillitis, pleurisy and a really nasty viral thing which I caught earlier this year, redering me bed bound for several days but none of that compares to the flu I got ten years ago. I remember crying because I really thought I was going to die. Believe me, when you've had real flu you would be scared of getting it.

When people report that they have flu on Facebook I just want to shove a rocket up their arse. How they can even think about posting on an internet forum when in the darkest depths of flu is beyond me.

Theres a big difference between someone who is in real optimum health, whatever their age, and a young person who appears healthy with no underlying health conditions.

Many young people these days do not take good care of themselves ie. do not eat properly. They might be thin, yet still fill themselves with sub-standard convenience foods or binge drink which will not lead them to good health. Its only when you have nasty strains of flu that you see the real strength of these so called 'healthy' youngsters.

I strongly believe 'you are what you eat' and that the strength of our immunity is linked to what you put in your mouth. Since leaving my parents a couple of yrs ago, I've really changed my diet and hardly catch anything. Yet I was thinner back then and some may think I 'looked' healthier but I would frequently get colds and various illnesses, including a serious bout of flu at age 19. I also don't drink alcohol anymore. When I log onto facebook, many of my peers seem to always have some sort of illness, to such an extent that it is seen as normal, when it shouldn't be, 'health' should be normal.

I've only had flu once and I was a young healthy 18 year old. I was so ill I could barely move. I had a high temperature, aches and pains all over, especially my back and I couldn't stop shaking no matter what. It was a Christmas time too and so I have photos of it, I look like death warmed up.

It took along time to get over and i think I had a relapse. Just when i thought I was getting over it, I got bad again.

I'm not overly worried about this flu. But what does have me concerned is that the high risk groups are children and people under 65. The reason being, older people have been expeosed to the H1 strain before in previous flu outbreks decades ago.

I read today in the paper that cases are going to explode when we all go back to school and work. So I'm wondering if I should have coughed up the £12.99 at Boots for the flu vaccine or if i still should. I'm not concerned re dying or serious complications, but I remember how ill i was with ordinary flu and swine flu is meant to be far far worse.

Sorry Rev, hadn't realised that catching the flu was my fault and I always thought I ate quite well too.