While influenza viruses spread year-round, flu activity peaks between December and February. The flu is an infection of the nose, throat, and lungs. Most people have a feeling of hatred when they know they are about to get sick. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 9.3 to 41 million people get the flu. Of this total, 120,000-710,000 get hospitalized each year. The saddest fact is that an estimated 6,300-52,000 people die from this virus.
The main issue of this illness is the symptoms. Most of the population feels like they are on their deathbed. Destinee Culver, the school nurse at Independence said that people get, “Body aches, chills, headache, sore throat, and mucus. Everybody is different so it depends”.
In most cases, people do everything in their power to recover and get out of the illness. Culver says “Tylenol can help the symptoms since the flu is a virus and it can’t go away”. The flu shot is also a good thing to do when one is sick. Culver affirms that the flu shot is important “because flu season is December through February and that is when flu episodes spike. Just because you get the shot doesn’t mean you will get the flu, it just helps lessen the virus”. To add, when junior student Tee Davis gets sick, she tries to recover on her own and says “I sleep, I try to eat, and then, that’s it”. The same thing goes for junior student Decem Say. She says, “I try to drink a lot of water and get enough sleep”.
Although getting sick can seem like the end of the world, there are many ways to try to avoid falling into an illness. Culver informs us of the best ways to do so. “Wash your hands with warm soap and water for 20 seconds, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and avoid touching your face, eyes, mouth, and nose. Those are the main ones”. She also adds “Vitamin C is good, especially orange juice. I would avoid dairy because it can upset your stomach, things like peppermint or honey can help, the most important thing is to nourish yourself in general”. The students also seem to use their tactics. Davis said, “I stay away from people who are sick and I wash my hands”. With the same topic, Say said, “Stay clean and try to stay warm during the cold weather”.
With all this information, make sure to stay vigilant and take care of yourselves in the best way possible.
