- The influenza (flu) virus can come from one of three main strains, influenza A, influenza B or the rare influenza C. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up to 50 million Americans are affected by some strain of the flu virus every year. Of those numbers, approximately 200,000 are hospitalized by the virus and 36,000 people die from flu-related issues.
- The common flu is spread both through direct contact as well as through the air. Some newer strains of the virus only spread through contact and have not yet mutated to being airborne. Most commonly, the flu virus is spread through touching infected objects and then touching the mouth or nose, being in close contact with infected individuals, or being in a confined area with little ventilation and infected individuals.
- Once the body comes in contact with the flu virus, it heads directly for the respiratory tract. Here it enters what is called the incubation period. During this time the virus hijacks healthy cells and injects its genetic material into them. The hijacked cell then uses the structures of the healthy cell to divide and spread. This incubation period can take anywhere from 24 hours to five days before symptoms appear. Most commonly the incubation stage lasts approximately two days.
- Once the infection is detected by the body, the body's immune system responds by sending immune cells to destroy the invaders. This can take anywhere from two days to two weeks after incubation for the body to fully fight off the infection. As the viral cell count decreases, so will the symptoms until the flu virus is no longer present. The result of this process will leave special proteins in the body called antibodies that will help the body fight off the infection quicker and easier if the body ever comes into contact with the same strain again.
