Cold & Flu
Season is Nothing to Sneeze At
Presented by Timex
Healthcare’s Accu-Curve™, Acrobat™ and Illuminator™ Thermometers.
If the changes in the season from fall
to winter have you feeling blue, it might just be that you
caught a cold or have the flu. If you're feeling down and
just sick to the bone, the following statistics say pay attention
because you're not alone.
The Common Cold:
According to the United States Department
of Health and Human Services, the common cold is, well,
very common. According to some estimates, people in the
United States suffer up to 1 billion colds each year. Children
get about six to ten colds a year. And for families with
children in school, the number of colds per child can be
as high as 12 a year, making the common cold a family affair.
Adults have it somewhat easier, averaging
about two to four colds a year. Interestingly, women, especially
those between the ages of 20 to 30 years, have more colds
than men, possibly because of they have closer contact with
children. And maybe somewhat surprising is that according
to HHS, individuals older than 60 have fewer than one cold
a year.
Economically, the common cold's impact
is nothing to sneeze at. According to the National Center
for Health, some 62 million cases of the common cold in the
United States required medical attention or resulted in restricted
activity in 1996. Also in 1996, colds caused 45 million days
of restricted activity and 22 million days lost from school,
again according to NCHS.
More than 200 different viruses are known
to cause the symptoms of the common cold while the causes
of 30 to 50 percent of adult colds, presumed to be viral,
remain unknown.
Not surprising, most colds occur during
the fall when children are going back to school and continue
through the winter when people generally spend more times
indoors.
Common cold symptoms often include nasal
discharge, obstruction of nasal breathing, swelling of the
sinus membranes, sneezing, sore throat, cough, and headache,
and usually begin a few days after infection. Cold symptoms
can last from just two days to two weeks with most people
getting back on their feet in about one week.
Importantly, a fever is usually mild but
can climb to 102o F in infants and young children.
Influenza:
According to the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), influenza is, like the common cold, quite
common. Flu season in the Northern Hemisphere starts in
November and continues through April and the CDC claims
that millions of U.S. residents, about 10% to 20%, will
get influenza each year.
Unlike the common cold, influenza is more
than a simple nuisance. On average, more than 110,000 thousand
have to be admitted to the hospital as a result of influenza
each year.
While anyone can get the flu and most people
who do recover in one to two weeks time some people will
develop life-threatening complications (such as pneumonia)
as a result of the flu.
Influenza is potentially very serious,
especially for people 65 years and older and very young children.
On average of about 36,000 people per year in the United
States die from influenza.
|
RightColumn |
