The flu seems to be one of the most common diseases in the world people often pay less attention to its effects. At least 430 people died from its complications in Australia alone.
What else do you need to know about it? Get the answers with these facts:
1. It Is More Common During the Winter Months
Whether you’re running a home or a business, winter is the best time to make sure your boiler is in its best shape. If you’re an industry, see to its that its parts such as the pressure-independent balancing control valve remain efficient. Otherwise, the boiler cannot deliver the right amount of heat.
But why does this matter, anyway? Like other microorganisms, the flu virus needs the right environment to thrive. It tends to linger longer when the humidity and temperature are low.
You will know that the humidity is low when everything about you feels dry—from your skin to your lips. Dryness can also increase the risk of flu and other infections.
When your skin is dry, for instance, it can become itchy. When it’s itchy, you end up scratching your skin, leading to breakage. This damage to the skin can give opportunistic pathogens the chance to enter the body.
2. It Also Happens During Summer
Although flu is more common during winter, it might sometimes appear during summer. In fact, in summer 2019, the reported cases were three times more than the previous year.
There are two possible reasons. One, many of these sick Aussies might have come from the Northern Hemisphere such as the United States or Canada, where it’s winter.
Two, people are traveling more often, including sick individuals. This means they can interact with others more often and touch more surfaces. Travel was even one of the triggers for the global Ebola pandemic in 2014.
3. The Flu Vaccine Doesn’t Offer 100% Protection
One of the misconceptions is the idea that a flu vaccine can guarantee you’ll never have flu anymore. Its effectiveness rate is around 59%. Sometimes it can be higher.
It doesn’t offer complete protection because flu viruses can mutate over time. There are also different kinds of viruses that cause flu. Still, flu vaccination is an effective defense against having and spreading flu. That percentage alone means you can already decrease your risk by more than half.
Your community can also benefit from your flu vaccination. It can boost herd immunity, which implies you can protect those who cannot get immunization for different reasons.
It could be because they’re still very young, very old, or have a weak immune system. Vaccinations also don’t work for people who are allergic to them.
No one should take any disease for granted, especially flu. Its complications can be deadly, particularly for high-risk groups such as the older people and the children.
This early, make sure your HVAC system is in its pristine condition. It is necessary for maintaining the ideal humidity levels. Don’t forget to get your vaccination and wash your hands to avoid spreading the virus.