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The Round Table

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The Round Table

Coughs and sneezes and shivers, oh my!

Coughs and sneezes and shivers, oh my!

The influenza virus has officially been declared an epidemic by the CDC. This virus can be deadly to the elderly and children, especially strain H3N2 which is the most prevalent strain this season.

“It made me miss a day of school, I mostly just slept.” says MHS sophomore, Trent Wood. He suffered from strain A of the influenza, just like 6% of all Americans seeking medical help.

Strain A of the influenza has had its fair share of outbreaks such as the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, Spanish flu is a variant of strain A, and is responsible for the deaths of over 50-100 million people worldwide. Spanish Flu is considered the deadliest natural disaster in Human history.

“Right now it just impacted my mother because she works at a daycare center so it’s been going around from child to child and everyone’s been getting sick.” says Jenna Krueger, a MHS Freshman, “All the children at the daycare put their hands in their mouths and they don’t think about cleaning or washing their hands. And especially in highly populated areas where people are coughing it just spreads so much faster.”

The influenza spreads by droplets made by people infected with the flu when they cough, sneeze, or talk. People with the flu can infect others from up to six feet away.

“Vaccinations have a two-fold affect.  Last year, flu season wasn’t as bad so people postponed getting their flu shots this year,” says Jane Brandt, a MHS chemistry teacher, “They do their best to predict what strains will be prevalent when it’s time to manufacture the vaccine and the vaccine that was produced/predicted better covered influenza B, but this year influenza A is worse.”

According to the Center for Disease Control the most common symptoms of influenza A are a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and muscle or body aches.

Even though influenza A is worse, this doesn’t lessen the effect of either. Be informed, be protected, and be healthy this flu season.

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About the Contributor
Rebecca Heimbrock, Round Table reporter
Rebecca Heimbrock is a freshman at Middletown High School.

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Coughs and sneezes and shivers, oh my!