Flu and Cold Season: Stay Healthy, North!

By Sophia Kim
 
About one week ago, after taking attendance and marking a handful of students absent, one of my teachers said, “It’s definitely flu and cold season.” You may have noticed recently that some of your classmates have called into school sick, or perhaps you have gotten sick within the past several months. Flu and cold seasons are currently in full swing, which explains why illness has plagued much of our school as of late. The flu and common cold are more common in the winter months. In the United States, flu season begins around October and can last until May but usually peaks between December and February. Cold season starts in late August and can last until early April. 

I asked some of my classmates whether they had gotten their flu shots and whether they had gotten sick this flu season. A few of these people stopped for a moment and responded, “I definitely got sick, but I don’t know if I got the flu or a cold. What’s the difference?”

The flu and common cold are both viral respiratory infections that can affect the nose, throat and lungs. Both are spread by droplets dispersed in the air by the coughing, sneezing, or talking of infected people. Direct contact with objects containing these same germs can also spread the flu and cold. These infections usually fade without medical treatment, but can have serious complications. Despite the similarities between them, there are key differences between the two illnesses.

Influenza or “the flu” is only caused by the influenza virus. Its symptoms appear suddenly and tend to be more severe than those of the common cold. With the flu, it is common to experience fever, body aches, chills and sweats, a dry cough, fatigue, and weakness. Complications of the flu include pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma flare-ups. People who have the flu are most contagious in the first three to four days that they experience the symptoms. Flu symptoms usually disappear after about five days, but coughing and weakness can last longer. Full recovery usually takes one to two weeks. On average, adults get the flu twice every ten years. 

Unlike the flu, the common cold can be the result of many different viruses. Cold symptoms tend to appear gradually and overall are milder than those of the flu. Some of these symptoms are a stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, congestion and sneezing. Most people recover from a cold in about one week to 10 days. On average, adults get two to three colds a year.

If you don’t want to get the flu or catch a cold, take some preventative measures. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds, and limit your exposure to infected people. In order to limit the spread of germs, try not to share glasses or utensils with others and remember to sneeze and cough into tissues. Additionally, make sure to take care of your body! Get enough sleep each night, exercise regularly, eat well, and manage your stress. 

In addition to implementing these simple actions to your daily life, you can get vaccinated for the flu. The flu vaccine is the best proven defense against the flu. But since the flu virus is constantly changing, the flu vaccine is also always evolving. Each year’s flu vaccine protects against three or four flu viruses that scientists expect to be common that year. Flu vaccines contain inactivated viral strains which are injected into the deltoid muscle, (the uppermost part of the arm and the top of the shoulder) or the thigh. This vaccine has successfully reduced flu-related illnesses and decreased the risk for flu complications.

If you have already gotten sick this flu and cold season, avoid spreading illness to people around you. Wash your hands, contain your coughs and sneezes, and disinfect surfaces that you touch regularly, such as doorknobs. According to a 2018 CDC study, 8% of the US population gets the flu each year, but it ranges from 3% to 11% depending on the season. Children and people 65 or older get the flu more often than other age groups.

To get a sense of what has been going on at CRN in relation to flu and cold,  I took a poll among some of my classmates on how they have been affected by sickness recently. Out of 59 CRN students, 34 students or 58% of the group got the flu shot. 8% got the flu, 39% got a cold, and 53% did not get either. 

Even if you follow the preventative measures listed above, sometimes sickness is inevitable. However, do what you can to reduce your risk of getting the flu or cold, and be mindful of your impact on fellow students. Stay healthy, North!

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https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season.htm