The top five: what’s down with FLU?

The previous writers for this blog wrote tons of posts about seasonal flu, pandemic flu, and avian flu, so taking over this blog is so much easier (thanks for a job well done!). I never knew there was so much stuff about influenza and I naively thought that it only happens during the winter season from November to March. Well, duh! Winter in the US, sure, but winter in Australia is right about now. So, what is it about flu that we have a blog that posts the whole year? Well, if you’ve been a regular reader you might be teaching me a thing or two. But then, why don’t we just all recap and highlight posts that tell us more about FLU – be it seasonal, pandemic or avian.

1. SEASONAL FLU explained. You’re sick and miserable, you have a fever and feel achy all over. Colds or flu? Do you need to take something or will it just go away? This post tells you symptoms and complications of the flu, and what you really need to do about it.

2. PANDEMIC FLU explained. Your whole building is down with the flu, and then your family’s getting sick too. You hear on the news that there’s a flu epidemic all over your state. Is it just a seasonal outbreak or is the whole world getting sick? Pandemic flu is a global outbreak that comes in “waves” of epidemics… read more.

3. AVIAN FLU explained. The biggest concern about bird flu is that we don’t know enough, which is not to say we don’t know anything. Understanding what bird flu is, how it spreads from animals to humans, and how contagious it is from person to person all help educate the public so we’re prepared in case of an outbreak.

4. Let’s keep an eye on the ball. Which one of the three kinds of flu should I worry the most? These two posts (first and second) give us a perspective about the flu we should concern ourselves about the most.

5. Personal pandemic preparedness. This post has a link that lists what we can do in the EXTREME CASE that a bird influenza pandemic occurs. It’s not in my nature to be scared, but like a true scout, it helps to prepare.