Heavy-breathing members on closely-placed cardiovascular machines and in crowded group fitness classes, hundreds of kinds of shared equipment from dumbbells and weight plates to public restrooms and corner water fountain provide countless opportunities for contact with flu virus. So, short of ditching our fitness goals until mid-Spring, it would do us well to learn more about flu, it's prevention, and what we can do about it.

What is flu? The flu, or influenza, is a contagious disease caused by influenza virus. It attacks respiratory tract in humans (nose, throat, and lungs). The flu is different from a cold; it usually comes on suddenly and may include these symptoms:

Fever Headache Tiredness (can be extreme) Dry cough Sore Throat Nasal congestion Body aches

About 10% to 20% of U.S. residents will get flu each year. Among these persons infected, an average of 36,000 will die, and 114,000 will be hospitalized. Although CDC claims it is not possible to accurately predict severity of flu season, this year's early incidence of Type A flu strain is historically associated with a more severe flu season, including higher numbers of related hospitalizations and deaths. To make outlook more grim, an epidemiological assessment for Centers for Disease Control (CDC) already reports "widespread" influenza activity in over 10 U.S. states.

Who is at risk? Although anyone can get flu, including individuals who are healthy, there are various groups who are at higher risk for complications. These high risk groups include:

persons aged >50 years; residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house persons of any age who have long-term illnesses; adults and children > 6 months of age who have chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma; adults and children > 6 months of age who need regular medical care or had to be in a hospital because of metabolic diseases (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicine or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]); children and teenagers (aged 6 months to 18 years) who are on long-term aspirin therapy and therefore could develop Reye Syndrome after flu; and women who will be more than 3 months pregnant during flu season.

How to Prevent Getting Flu Health officials are encouraging people, particularly those in high-risk groups to obtain a flu shot. The CDC states that an annual flu shot is best way to reduce chances that you will get flu.

There is a flu outbreak every year and there is a new flu vaccine being introduced every year. The reason is this - flu virus changes or mutate a little every year, making it impossible to create a vaccine that is permanently effective year after year. Instead, each year a new flu vaccine needs to be introduced that is effective for that particular year.

According to data from Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA, this year's flu outbreak that is happening in USA is mainly due to flu virus of Fujian variant (79%) and Panama variant (21%).

So, is flu vaccine effective?

No vaccine is 100% effective. For flu vaccine to be effective for this outbreak, ideally vaccine needs to contain both Fujian and Panama variants. Unfortunately, present available flu vaccine isn't.

However, that is not to say that vaccine is totally useless. It would still afford a certain degree of protection as there is cross-immunity. In other words, immunity that you get from one particular variant provides you with partial protection against other variants. Some protection is better than no protection, particularly for immuno-compromised, such as: