Flu the coop
Have you suffered a bout of this yet? It starts with a painful throat, aches and pains, a headache and fever. In many people, the virus seems to settle in the throat because the pain lasts for days.
But in other people, the infection goes to the chest, starting a hacking cough. In a few cases, the viruses have made a home for local bacteria so that patients end up with bacterial bronchitis or a bacterial ear and throat infection.
It's not bird flu and there's no need to panic - it's likely that the virus knocking a lot of us out for a week or two is the usual human influenza virus.
The Centre for Health Protection has been tracking viruses isolated in a laboratory, and the number of influenza viruses picked up by the lab more than doubled at the beginning of this month.
The types of flu attacking us are the usual strains: influenza B - not related to bird flu, but still capable of making you ill for a week or so - and influenza A.
The influenza A viruses belong to two groups, known as subtypes. The most common is the H3 subtype, but there are a significant number from the H1 subtype. Bird flu belongs to the H5 subtype.
There's good reason to be careful. Whether or not bird flu is around, these viruses can wreck your respiratory system and are capable of killing people with weakened immune systems (the elderly, babies, people with chronic diseases such as diabetes, or tobacco-caused lung disease).
Even strong, normally healthy people have to be aware that when fighting off a flu virus you need to support your immune system by getting plenty of rest.
That means staying in bed and clear of toxins (no tobacco, so no smoky bars) and boost your antioxidants and nutrients such as fresh fruit, vegetables and juices.
Apart from not spreading your infection, there's another reason you should stay at home (and if you must go out wear a mask).
We now have bird flu in wild birds and some backyard chickens. If that and the human flu meet and mix their genes (as flu viruses commonly do) a pandemic strain or 'super flu' could be born. At present, avian flu is spread only by close contact with birds. But the human flu is spread by droplets that stay in the air when you cough or sneeze and are then breathed in by others.
If avian flu turned into human flu, it would spread in the same way. That's why the infectious disease experts see this event as such a disaster.
