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Want to stay healthy? Stay informed. Check out our frequently asked questions to help you beat the flu. To learn more about how Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is preparing for a potential pandemic, visit our Company Highlights area.
How can you stay healthy during cold and flu season?
Whether it's the flu or the common cold, the best thing you can do to stay healthy is practice good hygiene, which can help reduce the spread of germs. Some very effective methods include:
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Throw out the tissue in the nearest wastebasket and then immediately wash your hands with soap and water.
- Don't sneeze into your hand if you don't have a tissue. Instead, use the crook of your arm.
- Frequently wash your hands with soap and water. When hand washing is not possible, use antiseptic hand gels that contain alcohol.
- Stay at least three feet away from people who are coughing or sneezing.
- Immediately wash your hands after contact with an ill person.
- Stay at home when you are sick.
- Keep your children at home when they are sick.
- Teach your children good hygiene habits.
- Ask for a mask if you go to a doctor's office or hospital when you are sick.
- Get a flu shot. See the Should I Get a Flu Shot? section for more details.
About Avian (Bird) Flu
There has been a great deal of attention in the news media about a new type (or strain) of influenza virus that has been spreading across Asia, Europe, and Africa. This strain of influenza (flu), also known as Avian (bird) flu, has mostly infected birds; however, cases of human infection have been reported. Because of these recorded cases of human infection, there are concerns among some health experts that this type of flu virus may mutate into a form that will spread quickly from person to person, triggering what’s known as a pandemic.
About Flu Epidemics and Pandemics
The attention to both seasonal outbreaks of the flu and the recent Avian (bird) flu is important because of the potential for an epidemic or a pandemic.
For more on the differences between a seasonal outbreak, an epidemic, and a pandemic, read the following Frequently Asked Questions.
What is an influenza epidemic?What is a pandemic?
What is the difference between a pandemic, a flu epidemic, seasonal flu and Avian (bird) flu?
When will the next influenza pandemic occur and how severe will it be?
Are there medicines to treat or prevent pandemic influenza?
Is there a vaccine to protect people from pandemic influenza?
Should You Have a Flu Shot?
What is an influenza epidemic?
An influenza epidemic is a large-scale outbreak of the flu that reaches certain statistical levels set by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). Every week, the CDC gathers data from hospitals in 122 cities nationwide and calculates the percentages of deaths caused by influenza. If the number of flu-caused deaths exceeds 7.7 percent of the total, then it is officially declared an epidemic.
What is a pandemic?
A pandemic is an epidemic that occurs across several countries and affects a sizable portion of the population in each country. For pandemic influenza to occur, three conditions must be met: A new influenza - A virus appears or "Emerges" in the human population; it causes serious illness in people; and it spreads easily from person to person worldwide.
According to the CDC, the last influenza pandemic took place from 1968 to 1969, when the Hong Kong flu killed 33,800 Americans between September and March.
What is the difference between a pandemic, a flu epidemic, seasonal flu and Avian (bird) flu?
Influenza—the kind that affects humans and birds—circulates naturally in birds. However, some types (strains) of influenza change (mutate) and can affect humans as well. The current Avian (bird) flu we’ve heard about is an infection caused by a strain of influenza that still affects primarily birds.
The current concern about Avian (bird) flu is because the virus strain, called H5N1, is one that has not been seen in humans before, and there is no vaccine available to protect against it in the event of a large outbreak.
Seasonal influenza (often called “the flu”) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by a strain of influenza virus that affects primarily humans. Seasonal flu outbreaks occur every year, and can cause mild to severe illness in people. The best protection against seasonal flu is vaccination.
When will the next influenza pandemic occur and how severe will it be?
Many scientists believe it is only a matter of time until the next influenza pandemic occurs. The severity of the next pandemic cannot be predicted, but some studies suggest that the impact of a pandemic on the United States could be substantial.
Are there medicines to treat or prevent influenza?
Four different influenza antiviral medicines (amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, and zanamivir) are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment and/or prevention of influenza. All four usually work against influenza A viruses. However, the drugs may not always work, because influenza virus strains can become resistant to one or more of these medicines. For example, analyses have shown that some of the 2004 H5N1 viruses isolated from poultry and humans in Asia are resistant to two of the medications (amantadine and rimantadine).
Is there a vaccine to protect people from a pandemic?
A complete protective vaccine probably would not be available in the early stages of an influenza pandemic. When a new vaccine against an influenza virus is being developed, scientists work together to select the virus strain that will offer the best protection against that virus. Manufacturers then use the selected strain to develop a vaccine. Once a potential pandemic strain of influenza virus is identified, it will take several months before a vaccine will be widely available. If a pandemic occurs, the U.S. government will work with many partner groups to make recommendations guiding the early use of available vaccine.
Should You Have a Flu Shot?
Having a flu shot is a good way to protect yourself against the flu. However, because the flu virus differs from year to year, you must have a new flu shot each year.
According to the CDC, you should get a flu shot if you’re considered at high-risk for complications from the flu. People at high-risk include:
- Those age 65 years and older
- Those living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility
- Adults and children six months and older living with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma
- Adults and children six months and older who need regular medical care or were in a hospital during the previous year because of a metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS])
- Children six months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (Children given aspirin while they have influenza are at risk of Reye syndrome)
- Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season
- All children six to 23 months of age
- People with any condition that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions (that is, a condition that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, such as brain injury or disease, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other nerve or muscle disorders)
- People who can transmit flu to others at high risk for complications, including health-care workers, household contacts, and out-of-home caregivers of infants up to 23 months of age, and close contacts of people 65 years and older
