Adults get flu 'about once every five years'

[Northerner]

Adults catch real flu about once every five years, scientists calculate, based on a field study in China.

Although many of us will feel ill more often than this, other flu-like infections are to usually blame, the international team says.

The scientists tested blood samples from 151 volunteers aged between seven and 81, to gauge how often flu infections strike.

A similar study in the UK will test if the findings apply to British people.

Gathering this sort of lifespan data - which the researchers say has not really been done before - should help experts better understand who is at risk of infection, and how often, as well as how far the disease spreads through communities.

The study, in the journal PLoS Biology, looked at nine main strains of flu known to have been circulating around the globe between 1968 and 2009.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31698038

Can't remember ever having flu Perhaps I have, but confused it with a bad cold? Maybe there really is something to the 'man flu' concept? 🙂

 

[Robin]

perhaps that's one area where your immune system works properly! I Had Asian flu as a baby, in the 1956 epidemic, apparently, I think I've had it twice since, and I've escaped several times when all around me have been smitten ( and having a child with flu slobbering germs all over you is usually a sure fire way of catching something) So maybe I have residual immunity from infancy. I still have the flu jabs, though, just in case.
'real' flu puts you in bed for a week, and then you feel wishy washy for the next two weeks, I've found.

 

[Copepod]

You've missed a couple of key points about this study - it's based on 151 people in China, aged 7 to 81 years. "The study, in the journal PLoS Biology, looked at nine main strains of flu known to have been circulating around the globe between 1968 and 2009." It's field epidemiology, not the study of one person in UK. Plus, any flu strain which emeged since 2009 has not been considered. Although scientists nearly always say "further study is needed", to help secure future funding, this is clearly a case where a study in UK or Europe is needed to find local situation.

 

[Robin]

I think a lot of people, (me included, and agreed, unscientifically) tend to compare the results of studies with their own personal experience.

 

[Northerner]

I think a lot of people, (me included, and agreed, unscientifically) tend to compare the results of studies with their own personal experience.

The headlines are always written as an all-inclusive statement of fact. What this one ought to say is 'Some Chinese Adults get flu every 5 years'! 🙄

 

[Copepod]

I think a lot of people, (me included, and agreed, unscientifically) tend to compare the results of studies with their own personal experience.

I can tend to personalise, too, but usually my training in epidemiology, medical statistics and public health means that I interpret findings properly. That's why I mention this when reactions to scientifice research seems a bit off the mark. When media reports seem a bit sensational / inaccurate, I search for original paper. No way could I rely on a Daily Mail journalist for my medical education, for example.

 

[Northerner]

...No way could I rely on a Daily Mail journalist for my medical education, for example.

Sadly, a lot of people do! 😱

 

[trophywench]

LOL Copepod - and presumably means that like me, you only read what they discovered in the research, not just the Conclusion! - they don't ALWAYS match, do they?

 

[Copepod]

Exactly, full paper by scientists, press release by institution, articles by journalists in newpapers / websites can all be very different.