I knock on wood when I write this. A few weeks ago I had what appeared to be flu-like symptoms. . . headache and fever, extreme fatigue. It lasted a few days, but also coincided with visits to my mother in a hospital. My son seemed to also be under the weather, a little pale, a little tired, and a little feverish. It blossomed a few hours later into my wife becoming sick and my father almost having a virus for two weeks straight and taking Tamiflu. My friends? Also them.. it is spreading at work and also among the vast circle of amazing people in my life.. in one instance a few friends’ kids have had it for a full week plus..
This clearly is shaping up to be a very mean flu season. Even media reports, as overblown as they often are, seem to understate what is occurring. Everyone seems sick, suddenly. Very sick… Very very sick..
Which brings up some questions for me, in my fortean and yet slightly immature mind..
Namely, why so bad?
A scary article from SALON sheds some light on this matter.. Nicole Karlis writes,
Flu season has officially begun, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and this year the infamous strain known as H1N1 is dominant. That’s the same strain that killed at least 50 million people and infected nearly one-third of the world’s population a century ago, between 1918 and 1920.
So there is some food for thought.. As bad as 1918.
If you visited grave sites here in Eastern Pennsylvania anthracite locales you’ll see tons of headstones with dates reading 1918.. perfectly healthy men, women, and way too many children, succumbed to their earthly fate that year.. It must have been brutal, those 101 years back. Parents and friends galloping from coal region grave to grave to bury the next friend of family member to meet the fate of the great flu..
But this year, while the same, is not going to be as deadly .. More from Karlis:
To date, there have been seven pediatric deaths associated with a mix of H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B virus infections, the CDC states. It is too early to tell if H1N1 will infect a majority of those who get the flu this year, but it is worth asking: If it is, could it be as deadly as it was in 1918?
The short answer is no, and there are a few biological reasons why. First, Nordlund said, “influenza viruses are constantly changing,” which is one of the reasons why there is a new formulation for flu vaccines each year. In other words, the H1N1 strain from 100 years ago does not have exactly the same RNA as today’s H1N1 strain.
BUT, I still ask WHY! Why now..? why 1918’s strain?
Considering the 1918 H1N1 strain has undergone both kinds of change over the last 100 years, a 1918-like H1N1 would not “fit the current criteria for a new pandemic strain,” the CDC states. Hence, the probability of that exact virus re-emerging from a natural source is “remote.”
Okay fine..
Using modern molecular techniques, Taubenberger and his colleague, Anne Reid, amplified the fragments and, in 2005, published the virus’s genetic sequence. Their findings were a shock. Previously, epidemiologists had observed that flu pandemics were preceded or followed by outbreaks of influenza-like illnesses in dogs, cats, and horses. It was also known that from time to time flu viruses could infect pigs and, of course, humans, and that wild flu viruses circulated in migratory waterfowl. However, when Taubenberger analysed the genome of the Spanish flu, he found that most of its genes were derived from a bird flu virus. Indeed, Taubenberger considered the H1N1 virus so “avian-like’” he could not discount the possibility that it had transmitted directly from birds to humans shortly before 1918 – and perhaps as early as 1916.
Taubenberger’s discovery raised the terrifying possibility that, in the future, some other avian influenza virus – like the H5N1 bird flu then circulating in south-east Asia or the H7N9 flu currently causing sporadic human infections in China – might suddenly acquire the ability to trigger a similarly devastating pandemic. It also begged the question, why bring the Spanish flu back to life, and what if the virus escaped the laboratory and fell into the hands of terrorists?
To prevent that happening, Taubenberger and other scientists with access to the freezer containing the virus are screened by the FBI and must wear double-gloves, a respirator and a full body suit – like the ones worn by medical workers during the west African Ebola epidemic. They must also submit to an iris scan. “It’s really the equivalent to top secret clearance,” he says.
…..oh my.. I did add some emphasis there in bold.
the great flu of 1918 being unearthed! And now spreading?
Yes, indeed.. tin foil hats need to be adjusted tightly to be immune to conspiratorial thought on this matter …. no?
A few interesting points are worth remembering about the great flu of 1918.. In Britain, for instance, most women over 30 gained the right to vote. In the United States, the 19th Amendment cleared the House of Representatives, moving women closer to full suffrage. And in January 1918, a plague came to Haskell County, Kan. By the end of the year, it would engulf the world.
The virus may not have originated in Kansas, but that was where the first cases were recorded. From the rural homes of the Great Plains, it spread to Camp Funston and other Army bases, and from there to the civilian masses.
By 1919, the disease had killed 50 million to 100 million people worldwide, a toll matched only once in recorded history. The Black Death killed 75 million to 200 million — but it took four years to do so, while the Spanish flu took little more than one.
The plague emerged in two phases. In late spring of 1918, the first phase, known as the “three-day fever,” appeared without warning. Few deaths were reported. Victims recovered after a few days. When the disease surfaced again that fall, it was far more severe. Scientists, doctors, and health officials could not identify this disease which was striking so fast and so viciously, eluding treatment and defying control. Some victims died within hours of their first symptoms. Others succumbed after a few days; their lungs filled with fluid and they suffocated to death.
The plague did not discriminate.
It was rampant in urban and rural areas, from the densely populated East coast to the remotest parts of Alaska.
Fast forward to our present time of disaster and apocalypse, a few points to reckon with.
How long does the flu virus survive?
Pretty likely, Alison Carey, MD, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Drexel University, tells Health
“Flu viruses can survive on hard surfaces (like bus poles) and infect another person for 24 to 48 hours,” she says. “Cold viruses don’t survive as long—usually a few hours. But there is evidence that they can survive and be passed on for up to 24 hours.”
Another other question arises in my mind: Where does flu go in the OFF season? And why is there an ‘on’ season?
A Harvard study offers a few theories:
1) During the winter, people spend more time indoors with the windows sealed, so they are more likely to breathe the same air as someone who has the flu and thus contract the virus (3).
2) Days are shorter during the winter, and lack of sunlight leads to low levels of vitamin D and melatonin, both of which require sunlight for their generation. This compromises our immune systems, which in turn decreases ability to fight the virus (3).
3) The influenza virus may survive better in colder, drier climates, and therefore be able to infect more people (3).
A study from 2007 showed the flu’s migration (and season) is based on humidity and temperature. “The flu virus tends to infect more people during cold and dry weather,” says Dr. Dushaj. Other conditions that encourage the spread of a virus may be staying indoors with sealed windows and recirculated air—as we do in winter. This increases the risk of inhaling the same air as someone who may have the flu, he says. There are other theories on why the flu is worse in winter, says Dr. Dushaj: “Less sunlight exposure in the winter months leads to lower levels of vitamin D and melatonin.”
Just Google “Why is there a flu season?” and you’ll see a plethora of results from the modern medicine-laden to the Alex Jones type..
