Flu: why this year's outbreak is one of the worst
Connor Bamford, University of Glasgow and Julien Amat, University of Glasgow The UK is being hit with one of the worst flu seasons in recent decades. A total of 664 hospital admissions and 85 confirmed deaths have been reported since the beginning of winter 2017. The British media have blamed “Aussie flu” for the outbreak. The truth is, there is not just one flu strain we should be worried about, and “Aussie flu” is a bit of a misnomer. First, a bit about flu strains. There isn’t really a flu virus. Flu virus is a name we give a group of four closely related viruses: influenza A, influenza B, influenza C and influenza D. While humans can’t catch influenza D ( that’s for pigs and cows ), we can be infected with influenza A, B and C. Public health officials, however, are less worried about influenza C as it isn’t a major cause of illness. But influenza A and B are a real worry. Influenza A has been found in – and causes disease in – lots of animals,...