The flu is on its way — here’s how you can keep track
The misery of full-on flu season is almost here. Though the avalanche of sniffles and fever hasn’t hit yet, health officials say it’s on its way.
Since we know it’s coming, you can find out where and when it’s striking with a flu tracker map from the Centers for Disease Control.
On the heels of last year’s nasty flu season, during which more than 700,000 people were hospitalized and 180 children died, CDC officials are urging people to plan ahead, get their flu shots and take precautions like covering coughs and washing hands.
If you want to be ready for what’s about to come, the CDC collects, compiles, and analyzes influenza activity year-round in the United States and provides a wealth of information about flu at www.cdc.gov/flu.
The CDC also publishes FluView, a weekly influenza surveillance report, and FluView Interactive, if you’d like to customize your flu surveillance data.
Right now you can check out the first report of the 2018-19 influenza season. There isn’t a ton to report yet, with the CDC noting that only 2.3% of doctor’s visits pertaining to the flu can be tracked to Arizona, California,
Hawaii, and Nevada, in region 9.
Here’s the upshot on what the flu does to you: When the flu virus enters your body, it triggers your immune response — and in
some lethal cases, that response pummels not just the virus but the body too.
The influenza virus hijacks human cells in the nose and throat to make copies of itself. This hoard of viral beasties triggers the immune system to send battalions of white blood cells, antibodies and inflammatory molecules to
eliminate the threat, according to Scientific American. Generally, that process works to heal the body.
Stocking up on herbal tea, fruit juice and supersoft tissues can help to make the whole process less unpleasant.