Obesity is a rising epidemic that is associated with a number of chronic diseases including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease but a growing body of evidence shows that it is also associated with worse outcomes from infectious diseases including influenza. Obesity is associated with increased risk of severe complications from influenza virus infections including hospitalization. We…
Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide killing over 8 million people in 2015. At the same time, lower respiratory infections including influenza are a major problem causing 3 million deaths worldwide per year. Typically, the young and elderly and at greatest risk of influenza related death or disability. Annual flu…
Influenza is a global problem that affects up to 10% of adults and 30% of children worldwide. The flu is responsible for 500,000 deaths annually and even more during influenza pandemics. The elderly, the young, and individuals with chronic diseases (like asthma and COPD) are most at risk for extended illness and mortality from the…
It’s flu season in the northern hemisphere and with it comes fever, aches, coughing, and general fatigue. The flu comes and goes within a couple of weeks for most people, however for some of the population a simple flu can progress into serious disease and even hospitalization. As many as 8000 people may be hospitalized…
The flu, or influenza, is a seasonal respiratory infection that targets the lungs. Influenza can result in a fever, cough, runny nose, congestion, and headaches. In some people, the symptoms are so severe that they become confined to a bed for weeks and may go on to develop pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS,…
Every year the influenza virus infects millions of people in the US and results in the death of 55,000 people, usually the elderly or sick. To combat this massive global health burden and to prevent pandemics a flu vaccine is manufactured each winter season. The World Health Organization predicts which of the strains of the…
Every year when the kids go back to school after the summer break, asthmatic children experience a worsening of their symptoms that often results in hospitalization. This worsening of symptoms, or asthma exacerbations, cost the health care system $50 billion a year and cause millions of lost work and school days. In children, the seasonal…
Every winter flu season descends upon us making our lives miserable for a couple weeks. The flu, or influenza, is a lung infection that causes symptoms of fever, cough, sneezing, body aches, fatigue, and headaches. Contrary to popular belief, the flu has nothing to do with your gut and does not make you throw up.…
Coughing, sneezing, high fever, and body aches, these are all symptoms of the flu. Each winter season people are stricken down by this illness. Often mistaken for a stomach bug, the flu attacks the lungs of people resulting in strong coughs, sore throat and sometimes pneumonia. Annually there are over 250,000 deaths from influenza usually…
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