Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious viral infection of the nose, throat, and lungs that occurs most commonly in the winter. It is easily transmitted from one person to another through a sneeze or by touching a contaminated object and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Only 58% of older adults have received the influenza vaccine within the previous 12 monts. The flu can be life threatening for older adults with chronic illness, particularly those who are frail or have emphysema, heart disease, or diabetes. About 80 percent of all deaths from the flu occur in people over age 65. Click on the link Influenza: The Virus, the Disease and How to Protect Yourself at the National Foundation for Infectious Disease (NFID) website to learn what you need to know about the flu, the symptoms, complications, prevention and research efforts. Then monitor the influenza activity in your community at FluWatch

Symptoms

Flu symptoms are similar to that of the common cold, but the flu causes a fever and most colds do not. Flu symptoms are generally more severe than a cold and include weakness, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, fever, chills, sneezing, and runny nose. Older adults may not run a temperature with the flu. The Flu almost never causes stomach problems such as nausea and vomiting. The flu may come on suddenly and may last 5 to 7 days.

Prevention

The flu virus changes each year. Once you have had the flu, you gain a temporary immunity against that year's strain of flu. New vaccines are developed every year because the flu viruses are constantly changing. Some flu epidemics are worse than others. A flu shot must be taken every year in mid-fall so your body has time to build up immunity before the flu season hits. Medicare covers the cost of flu shots.

A flu shot cannot cause the flu, although you may have mild side effects such as a low-grade fever or some minor aches and pains. The flu vaccine is no longer based on eggs which used to prevent allergic individuals from receiving it. Antibiotics will not help you recover from the flu because they kill bacteria, not viruses. However, we now have anti-viral drugs which have had limited success in some viral infections such as influenza.