Flu Season
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms may include a high fever, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, feeling tired, and a cough. These symptoms typically begin two days after exposure to the virus and usually last less than a week. It can be difficult to distinguish between the common cold and influenza in the early stages of these infections. However a flu can be identified by a high fever with a sudden onset and extreme fatigue. Influenza spreads around the world in a yearly outbreak resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness and about 300,000 deaths. In New Zealand, outbreaks occur mainly in the winter. Death occurs mostly in the young, the old and those with other health problems. Larger outbreaks known as pandemics are less frequent. In the 20th century three influenza pandemics occurred: Spanish flu in 1918, Asian flu in 1958, and Hong Kong flu in 1968, each resulting in more than a million deaths.
