The Influenza Virus

The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. It can be a deadly killer in areas where people have failed to build immunity through vaccinations.

In the United States, the deadly effects of the flu virus can be seen in mortality statistics. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), during the 2003-2004 flu season, “the percentage of deaths in the United States attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) exceeded the epidemic threshold during 9 consecutive weeks.”^*

The CDC maintains that every year in the United States, on average:

• 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
• more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications; and
• approximately 36,000 people die from flu.

People stricken with flu need rest, care, and proper nutrition. The virus’s impact upon employers, health care providers, families, and the general pubic can be significant.

With the increase ease of global transportation, continual immigration, overcrowded urban areas, and impoversihed living conditions epidemics due the new flu epidemics appear to have the power quickly wreak havoc around the world.

Pandemics

In an influenza pandemic, a new virus rapidly spreads itself in a human population that lacks immunity to protect itself. That’s why vaccinations against known flu viruses are so important.

According to the World Health Organization, an influenza pandemic could wreak catastrophic illness and harm upon untold numbers of people around the world:

“An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus appears against which the human population has no immunity, resulting in several, simultaneous epidemics worldwide with enormous numbers of deaths and illness. With the increase in global transport and communications, as well as urbanization and overcrowded conditions, epidemics due the new influenza virus are likely to quickly take hold around the world.”

The U.S. was hit by an influenza pandemic in 1918 during a worldwide outbreak of the Spanish Flu. More than 500,000 people died in the U.S. alone, and millions more were sick. The statistics were paltry compared with estimates of the pandemic’s global effect, said to have taken 20 - 50 million lives.