Influenza
Brief History of Influenza
Influenza first started occurring during the 20th century and is still around today. In 1918-1919, the Spanish Influenza pandemic killed more people that has ever been recorded. However, the 1918 pandemic was not the first influenza pandemic that has happened. The influenza pandemic also happened in 1957-1958 with the Asian Influenza, 1968-1969 was the Hong Kong Flu, Avian Flu threat was in 1997-present and the Novel H1N1 pandemic happened in 2009.
What is influenza?
Influenza is a coronavirus that is quite common, mostly known as the flu. There are four types, A, B, C and D and each of these affect people differently. Influenza A's natural host is wild birds and is known to be the most deadly, although it isn't compared to other viruses like Covid-19. Influenza B is similar to Type A, but it can only pass from human to human, not in between other species. Type C causes symptoms as well, but not as severe. The lesser known Influenza D has not been known to affect humans, but that could change in the future as the viruses evolve.
Symptoms
Most symptoms of the flu are the same. You can get any of the following: runny nose, coughing, sore throat, fever, aches and pains, fatigue and sometimes even diarrhoea. These are similar to the common cold except having a fever is mostly a flu symptom because having it with the cold is rare.
Vaccines
There are (at the time of writing) multiple vaccines. Each year as the virus grows new strains, new vaccines have to be created to protect against each new addition to the Influenza family of subtypes. The vaccines are offered by most chemists and GPs and can be administered for free if you are under certain criteria by the government. The people who the Australian Government will provide free vaccines for are people who are: "6 months and over with certain medical risk factors, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 6 months and over, 65 years and over, or you are a pregnant woman" (Australian Government 2019).
Advice
The advice for this virus is, as with any virus that spreads through the air, stay at home, rest, and wait until the symptoms go away so that you don't spread it to other people. Practicing healthy hygiene multiple times a day and respecting other's personal space can help if you do HAVE to go out.