Flu Dangers Poorly Understood
by Doug Pucci
There has been much in the news this winter about the flu reaching epidemic proportions and how many deaths it’s caused. This is followed by strong advice that both adults and children as young as 6 months old should get the flu vaccine, even though it’s only effective against 10 to 30 percent of this season’s flu strains—the flu virus associated with this season’s deaths is the H3N2, which is a mismatch with the current flu vaccine.
Every year there are flu-related deaths and hospitalizations, even among otherwise healthy people. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that in a mild flu year, approximately 12,000 people die from the flu in the U.S.; during a severe outbreak, that number can rise to 56,000.
It should be noted that 80 percent of those that die from the flu are people over 65, but both older people and young children, particularly under 5, are at higher risk for flu complications or death. Many times, it is actually complications from co-infections or underlying illnesses, either previously diagnosed or undiagnosed, that are to blame for “flu” deaths. Among the conditions that can make flu sufferers of any age more prone to death are diabetes, obesity, COPD, heart or lung disease and compromised immune systems. Complications that can result from the flu are pneumonia, heart attack, sepsis, and dehydration. These potentially life-threatening results should not be ignored.
Pneumonia is the most common flu-related complication; it compounds inflammation from the flu with air sacs in the lungs filling with fluid or pus.
Sepsis can occur when the immune system goes into overdrive, creating inflammatory compounds that can damage respiratory tract tissue, organs and cells. In children, sepsis can result if the child develops a secondary infection such as an ear or sinus infection.
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that the risk of heart attack in the first week after getting the flu is six times as great for adults, and that number may be higher for seniors.
Dehydration from diarrhea and/or vomiting can threaten the lives of infants and children, which are more likely to experience these flu symptoms than adults.
Prevention is obviously best, and most people can do more to optimize their resistance by lowering their inflammation levels and boosting their immune system. Studies reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Virology Journal, and Epidemiology and Infection show that people with a vitamin D deficiency are more susceptible to colds and the flu. Supplementing with high doses of vitamin D, as well as vitamins C and B1 can help strengthen the body’s ability to ward off viruses and infections.
Keeping inflammation levels low and maximizing the immune system are the best ways to help prevent the flu or minimize its effects when we come in contact with it.
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