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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

@Laura14

 

Here you go, hot off the press 2 HOURS AGO:

 

The study — which included researchers from San Jose State University and UC Berkeley — provides new evidence for the potential importance of the flu's airborne transmission because of the large quantities of infectious virus researchers found in the exhaled breath from people suffering from flu2 hours ago
Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,612
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

[ Edited ]

Another big reason why this flu season is bad is because of the very cold weather we are having. The flu virus lives longer in cold air and when you combine this with people staying inside with others, well then that makes for a perfect storm.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,488
Registered: ‎04-18-2013

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known


@Laura14 wrote:

@dex wrote:

@Laura14 I hope that you stay well.It must be hard working in a pharmacy with so many people coming to get meds while they are sick.


@dex  Thank you.  I have had a fever for a couple of weeks but nothing is manifesting so I am very grateful my immune system seems to be frying the viruses as I come into contact with everyone.  


@Laura14

 

Is working with a fever a good idea?

 

How do you know your immune system is frying viruses?

 

Not being snarky, genuinely curious.

 

BTW, good on you for getting your pharmacy tech cert!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

@Laura14and @Chrystaltree

Flu may be spread just by breathing, new study says

January 18, 2018

 

Until now, most people thought you could catch the flu after being exposed to droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes, or by touching contaminated surfaces.

 

But a new study released Thursday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that we may pass the flu to others just by breathing.

 

The study — which included researchers from San Jose State University and UC Berkeley — provides new evidence for the potential importance of the flu’s airborne transmission because of the large quantities of infectious virus researchers found in the exhaled breath from people suffering from flu.

 

“The study findings suggest that keeping surfaces clean, washing our hands all the time, and avoiding people who are coughing does not provide complete protection from getting the flu,” Sheryl Ehrman, dean of the College of Engineering at San Jose State University, said in a statement.

 

MORE HERE:

 

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/18/new-study-shows-flu-may-be-spread-just-by-breathing/

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,415
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

@shoesnbags yes, thank you.  I didn't word it correctly.  I meant to write antiviral or something to that effect.  I don't know how the cdc or whoever predicts the next strain of flu and the correct vaccine.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.... ~ S & G
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,795
Registered: ‎11-16-2014

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known


@shoesnbags wrote:

@MickD wrote:

@Noel7 holy h e l l !  Do you think this is just an anomaly in the history of flu viruses?  Or an antibiotic resistant strain?


Just as a point of information, antibiotics are used to kill bacteria, not viruses.  So you might say that ALL viruses (including the flu virus) are "antibiotic resistant."   from Drugs.com:

"Simply put, antibiotics cannot kill viruses because viruses have different structures and replicate in a different way than bacteria. Antibiotics work by targeting the growth machinery in bacteria (not viruses) to kill or inhibit those particular bacteria."


I developed a secondary infection after getting the test for flu. I had Type B and within about 3 or 4 days knew I was on the road to pneumonia. My lungs were showing fluid so my physician gave me augmentin. The same thing happened to me last year but I didn't have Type B. I also took an antibiotic after a few days.

 

My husband had the same flu but he recovered quickly.

 

We both took Tamiflu.

 

I think a patient has to act quickly when symptoms escalate.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,017
Registered: ‎06-09-2014

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

@Noel7  Maybe it's me but I don't see the difference between breathing and talking or coughing and sneezing.  Whenever air leaves your mouth by either of these methods, you are expelling the virus droplets.  And if researchers didn't know that, I'd personally say our scientific community is in trouble.  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,752
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

For those who were sure this was nothing new...

 

The study "...provides new evidence for the potential importance of the flu’s airborne transmission."

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,488
Registered: ‎04-18-2013

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

Last week, right after I'd heard about a little kid dying from the flu in my state, I was pulling out of a shopping area and a woman coming out of a fast food place pulled up behind me at a light.  She was eating her food and licking her fingers while moving her hands from her food, to her steering wheel, to her mouth.

 

I about lost my breakfast.

 

I am a bit obsessive about washing my hands, but I think that is A.O.K. these days.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,598
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Flu Contagion Worse Than Previously Known

[ Edited ]

@MickD wrote:

@shoesnbags yes, thank you.  I didn't word it correctly.  I meant to write antiviral or something to that effect.  I don't know how the cdc or whoever predicts the next strain of flu and the correct vaccine.


@MickD

(from the CDC website)

Selecting Viruses for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine
 

The seasonal influenza (flu) vaccine is designed to protect against the three or four influenza viruses research indicates are most likely to spread and cause illness among people during the upcoming flu season. Flu viruses are constantly changing, so the vaccine composition is reviewed each year and updated as needed based on which influenza viruses are making people sick, the extent to which those viruses are spreading, and how well the previous season’s vaccine protects against those viruses.

More than 100 national influenza centers in over 100 countries conduct year-round surveillance for influenza. This involves receiving and testing thousands of influenza virus samples from patients. The laboratories send representative viruses to five World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centers for Reference and Research on Influenza, which are located in the following places:

  • Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC);
  • London, United Kingdom (The Francis Crick Institute);
  • Melbourne, Australia (Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory);
  • Tokyo, Japan (National Institute for Infectious Diseases); and
  • Beijing, China (National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention).

Twice a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) organizes a consultation with the Directors of the WHO Collaborating Centers, essential regulatory laboratories and representatives of key national laboratories and academies. They review the results of surveillance, laboratory, and clinical studies, and the availability of vaccine viruses and make recommendations on the composition of the influenza vaccine. These meetings take place in February for selection of the upcoming Northern Hemisphere’s seasonal influenza vaccine and in September for the Southern Hemisphere’s vaccine. WHO recommends specific vaccine viruses for inclusion in influenza vaccines, but then each country makes their own decision about which viruses should be included in influenza vaccines licensed in their country.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes the final decision about vaccine viruses for influenza vaccines to be sold in the U.S. Information about circulation of influenza viruses and available vaccine viruses is summarized and presented to an advisory committee of the FDA in February each year for the U.S. decision about which viruses to include in the upcoming season’s vaccine.

"Breathe in, breathe out, move on." Jimmy Buffett