influenza information

Singapore, Mississippi, the Philippines, Dunedin (New Zealand), Victoria, Hong Kong, Leningrad (the Soviet Union), and Taiwan all have one thing in common. They are places where strains of influenza experienced in recent Australian winters were first isolated. Unfortunately, every winter, doctors' surgeries are filled with patients who neglected to take a simple precaution in autumn, because like all other viral illnesses, such as measles, mumps, hepatitis, glandular fever and the common cold, influenza cannot be cured.

Influenza was once thought to be due to 'influences in the atmosphere', thus giving the disease its name, but it is now known to be one of many diseases that are caused by a virus. Medical science has drugs that can kill bacteria, funguses and microscopic animals that may enter the body, but it is unable to kill viruses. Viruses are barely alive and are therefore very difficult to kill. They are self-replicating crystals that are so small they cannot be seen by the most powerful light microscope. Bacteria on the other hand are microscopic animals, and they can be killed by antibiotics.