immune platoon disease database
Case file: The Flu Krew • Real name: Influenza • Microbe type: Virus

Profile
Influenza, AKA the "Flu Krew", is an airborne virus spread by coughs and sneezes that storms many parts of the world at about the same time every year. If this enemy gets you, you’ll have a high fever, plus a tired, achy feeling, with a cough, sore throat, and congestion. Flu usually doesn’t kill, but it can sometimes be deadly—people who are very old, or who have other health troubles like diabetes or asthma are most at risk.

Every year, a quiet struggle rages between the Flu Krew and the scientists who develop vaccines to protect us from it. For its part, the virus tries to outwit scientists by mutating (changing) a little bit each year. The scientists try to predict how the Flu Krew will mutate that year, and develop a vaccine to match.

Powers & Abilities
The Flu Krew’s three sinister tricks make it tough to combat.

1. Flu Krew can change each year, and outwit past vaccines.
2. They are super contagious and can spread very easily from person to person.
3. Infected people are contagious for about a day before they even know they’re sick, and for up to 7 days after they get sick.

Symptoms received from the Flu Krew are high fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, congestion, and body aches. Sounds like a plain old cold, right? Wrong. The assault is sudden, and far more powerful than a cold. Sometimes, people can actually remember the moment that they got sick from contact with the Flu Krew.

Around the world people avoid the Flu Krew by developing vaccines, by helping infected people get well, and by training people to stop Flu Krew from spreading. Worldwide, the two greatest reasons to fear the Flu Krew are:

• First, deaths. Most people recover just fine. But, sometimes, infected people die—especially, the elderly and people with diseases like diabetes, asthma, or kidney problems. Each year, more than 100,000 people in the U.S. end up hospitalized because of the Flu Krew, and about 36,000 die.
• The second fear? A deadly worldwide outbreak, or "pandemic." A pandemic could happen if the Flu Krew mutates in way that makes it extremely easy to pass from person to person, and in a way that makes past and current vaccines useless.

Even after your Immune Platoon defeats them, the Flu Krew loves to leave things behind like sinus infections, bacterial infections in the lungs, and dehydration (when the body loses too much water). Exposure to the Flu Krew can also make a person’s other illnesses like heart problems, asthma, or diabetes much worse.

preferred Method of Attack
The Flu Krew attack "air and surface". They mostly get new victims by flying through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. When someone else breathes in those droplets, they unknowingly breathe in the Flu Krew virus.

The Krew is not entirely limited to air travel, though. They also wait in the form of droplets on surfaces, like desktops or doorknobs, where they can get on hands and infect people when mouths or noses are touched.

Known Weaknessess
The flu vaccine is the best-known protection against this Krew. It revs up and trains your own immune system to fight the Flu Krew strain that is expected that year. Scientists figure out which strains to put in the vaccine every year by collecting Flu Krew samples from the year before, and predicting which types of Flu Krew will be most common in next year's season. For top-notch protection, people must get a new flu vaccine each year.

Keeping this enemy in check requires real vigilance. Even vaccinated people must go "back to basics" to prevent Flu Krew's spread. This means washing hands often, and covering up coughs and sneezes.

If the Flu Krew does get you, you just have to wait it out while your Immune Platoon fights the infector. Rest and medicine for congestion or cough can help you feel better. But, it's up to your body to conquer this virus.

Preferred Victims
The Flu Krew has no special preferences; they'll try to infect anybody, anywhere. There's no way to know how many people have been infected because most get better without even going to the doctor.

Precautions for the Public
Our weapons against the Flu Krew (vaccines) come in two forms, a shot and a nasal (nose) spray. The shot is made of "inactive villains". The newer nose spray is made with live, weakened Flu Krew villains. Neither kind can cause the Flu Krew to attack. Flu Krew season in the U.S. can start as early as October and last as late as May. Itss best to get vaccinated early (October or November). But, the old saying "Better late than never" is true—even late in the season, the vaccine can help you out.

Vaccines are excellent, but not perfect, protection. They stand guard against the Flu Krew strains that are most likely to be active during a particular season. But, if other strains are out looking for victims, they can still infect people.

Two glimmers of hope...people who've been immunized will get a milder case of the virus because of the training the vaccine has given your body. Second, you can also protect yourself by:

• Washing hands often
• Covering up coughs or sneezes using your elbow instead of your hand
• Not touching your mouth, nose, or eyes (which, is how germs get in)
• Steering clear of people who are sick from the Flu Krew
• Staying home from school if you've been attacked by the Flu Krew, to avoid spreading it.

Area of Operations
Flu Krew is a global concern, infecting people the world over. They like to come out in the winter (when lots of people can be found indoors and close together).

Criminal Record
The Flu Krew has an established a track record of several frightening outbreaks and other devious behavior.

• The worst outbreak ever was the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. More than 20 million people around the world died (half a million of them in the U.S.).
• Decades later, more than 100,000 people died in the U.S. when two different Flu Krew strains entered the country— Asian Flu Krew (1957), and Hong Kong Flu Krew (1968).
• In 1997, "avian (bird) flu" infected a few hundred people in Hong Kong, China. Six died. This strain showcases how clever and scary the Flu Krew can be. Until 1997, the Flu Krew had never actually moved from chickens to people before. All 1.5 million chickens in Hong Kong were killed to stop the outbreak. And, luckily, this form of the virus did not spread easily from person to person. But, these tricks alarm the worldwide team that work together to battle the Flu Krew because they show how this enemy can change, and grow more dangerous.