01-02 Person to Person - John Bulloch

Each year we get vaccinated for this year’s influenza variants. A virus that is transmitted from person to person. Hopefully milder winters linked to climate change will mean milder flu seasons.

There is one thing most of us understand about influenza is that it hits in the fall and winter when it is cold and damp. And, fortunately, today we can get a flu shot, a vaccine based on the three most likely strains in the area.
Influenza like the less severe cold viruses are spread from person to person, either as a result of kissing, shaking hands, coughing or sneezing. My doctor told me he was trained in medical school to anticipate washing his hands at least 12 times a day when in practice.
It was not long ago, that my wife and I were vaccinated in Toronto but spent the winter in California. We did not have the right vaccine because we were both deadly sick. Mary spent a couple of days in a San Jose hospital, and we received bills that totalled $43K.
We learned a lot about the horrors of flu viruses from what was called the Spanish Flue of 1918/19. My grandmother nursed two children and two borders. And massive numbers across the world were deadly sick. The photo shows an airline barracks converted into a hospital.
Some of these viruses are not impacted by weather changes. But the various flu and cold viruses certainly are. Typically, if we get a mild winter the flu season is relatively mild. But we can usually expect a nastier flu season the following year.
I can remember as a child being told by our teacher to carry a handkerchief and to cough into it so we do not spread any bugs. Love the photo taken at the time of the Spanish Flu epidemic where children are being trained to gargle once a day.
Another lesson from my grandmother and the Spanish Flu was people wearing masks after the flu had done its worse. And people walking rather than taking the streetcar. Something similar is happening in Europe following the coronavirus pandemic. People are buying bikes and E-bikes rather than take public transportation.
The future of a warming climate and infectious diseases is full of mystery. Not hard to understand mosquitoes moving north and carrying deadly parasites, but complex understanding all the ways an influenza virus will mutate as our weather warms.