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Sources: 1) US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For more information visit: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/ and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm
2) National Institutes of Health. For more information visit: http://www.nih.gov/ 3) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. For more information visit: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
4) World Health Organization (WHO). For more information visit: http://www.who.int//
The common cold: It may seem like an unavoidable and relatively harmless yearly hassle, but the numbers and facts behind the illness are sometimes surprising:
 
    •    Every year people in the United States suffer approximately 1 billion colds.
    •    Children have about 6 to 10 colds per year.
    •    22 million school days are lost every year due to the common cold.
    •    Children are thought to catch colds more frequently because their poor hygiene and proximity to other children in day care and school settings make transmission of germs easier.
    •    In families with children in school, the number of colds per child can be as high as 12.
    •    On average adults may experience 2 to 4 colds per year.
    •    Women, especially between the ages of 20 and 30 years old have more colds than men.
    •    Some studies place the common cold as the top cause of U.S. doctor visits and missed work days
 
Complications: Some common complications of colds include bacterial sinusitis, middle ear infections and asthma attacks. Colds are the most common trigger of asthma attacks for children with asthma, and are often the prelude to an ear infection for children.
 
What is Influenza (also known as Flu)? Influenza or flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. About 200,000 people are hospitalized yearly as a result of influenza and many as 36,000 Americans per year die from the flu and its complications.
 
Symptoms of Flu: The symptoms of the flu are similar to the common cold, but are much more severe and can be life threatening. Common symptoms include:
 
    •    Fever (usually high)
    •    Body aches and pains
    •    Dry cough
    •    Nasal congestion
    •    Sneezing
    •    Sore throat
    •    Runny or stuffy nose
    •    Chills
    •    Fatigue and stomach symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)
Further complications from the flu include bacterial pneumonia, dehydration and an exacerbation of other existing medical conditions.
 
Life span and infection: Once sneezed out or transferred by hand can live to three hours. Other people can become infected with these germs either by contact with invisible airborne mucus droplets or by touching the infected person's skin, or objects an infected person may have touched, such as doorknobs, shopping cart handles, toilets handles, telephones, keyboards, pens and pencils, elevator buttons or stair railings, and then in turn their own noses, mouths or eyes.
 
Flu costs: Harvard University health economist David Cutler said that workers in the United States miss an average of 1.5 days per year; it could cost businesses $20 billion in lost productivity this year alone. He also stated that the shortage of vaccine could make the problem larger than most years.
Dr. Ron Goetzel, director of the Cornell Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, stated that this sort of "presenteeism" puts other workers at risk and also hurts companies' bottom lines. "The employer is paying you to come in and work,"   he stated   "and you're suffering from a condition that knocks off two out of 8 hours of the day. In a sense the employer is paying you for a full day of work but you're only delivering 75 percent of that."
 
Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza:
    1.    Pandemic influenza is different from avian influenza.
    2.    Influenza pandemics are recurring events.
    3.    The world may be on the brink of another pandemic.
    4.    All countries will be affected.
    5.    Widespread illness will occur.
    6.    Medical supplies will be inadequate.
    7.    Large numbers of deaths will occur.
    8.    Economic and social disruption will be great.
    9.    Every country must be prepared.
    10.    WHO will alert the world when the pandemic threat increases.
 
Pandemics and scares: A flu epidemic happens when a virus spreads rapidly through a population. This happens nearly every year. A pandemic occurs when a virus changes dramatically and spreads easily across the world, which is not so common.
    •    1918: Spanish flu pandemic (A recent study estimates that if a pandemic similar to 1918 hit today, as many as 81 million would die)
    •    1957: Asian flu pandemic
    •    1968: Hong Kong flu pandemic
    •    NEXT... ??
 
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the Common Cold - Protect Yourself