The flu is back again and in full swing. Influenza can kill healthy adults in a matter of days, and it can be especially deadly for young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Each year the public is encouraged to get a flu shot in hopes of either not catching the flu or reducing the severity of the symptoms.

The main reason that the flu is hard to treat and prevent is that it mutates often and can be spread by infected hosts in multiple ways. Because of mutations in the virus, the large stockpile of flu vaccines that had been stored since 2013 was made entirely useless, as reported by U.S. News.

This year’s flu vaccine is only about 30 percent effective in preventing the primary strain of the flu, compared to most years when the flu vaccine is up to 60 percent effective, the L.A. Times said. Further complicating the already dire situation is that the H3N2 strain is known to be deadlier than most flu strains, because, as U.S. News stated, a precursor of this current strain was responsible for the 1968 influenza outbreak, also known as the Hong Kong Flu of 1968.

Influenza is spreading rapidly this year with over thirty deaths in San Diego, California, reported by the L.A. Times in the last week of 2017 alone. This is incredibly high compared to the influenza fatality rate experienced in the last flu season, when the vaccine was more effective. This has noticeably affected the flu rate this year, turning many hospitals and urgent care facilities into triage centers. The sheer number of those infected with the flu seeking treatment is overloading those resources all over the U.S.. Hospitals in northern California are erecting tents in parking lots and flying in extra nurses to deal with the increased number of patients infected with the flu. Locally, Bonham ISD decided to close all of its campuses for a week because of the high number of absences due to flu-like symptoms.  

Unlike some illnesses for which modern science has figured out a cure, scientists are still trying to decode the flu. Due to the frequent mutations in the head of the virus, it is hard to make a flu medicine that works for more than one specific strain of the disease. This is because the head of the virus is what antibodies look for to prevent sickness, U.S. News reported.

While it is well known that the flu can be spread in a variety of ways, including sneezing or coughing, it was recently discovered that the flu can also be spread through simply breathing while infected. This recent discovery was reported by Medical News Today, among others. Still, experts encourage people to avoid catching the flu by washing or sanitizing hands.  People who are infected should stay away from others and, if they must go out in public, should wear masks.