Why this year's flu is one of the worst in recent history
(WJBK) - This year's flu is set to becoming one of the worst in recent history and already has the highest rate of hospitalizations than any other year.
least 63 children have died from the flu so far this season and there's no sign of it letting up as the number of deaths and hospitalizations continue to rise.
This year's bug is hitting normally healthy people hard.
Michigan doctor: this year's flu worst in 10 years
Doctors who study the body's immune response say there are three main reasons:
1.) Co-infection with another germ, usually bacteria such as strep.
2.) Aggravation of existing conditions, such as heart disease and asthma;
3.) The so-called cytokine storm, when the body overproduces immune cells.
This flu season we are finding out new information about the nasty bug from the CDCl. A new study shows it's easier to catch than originally thought. You can get it by simply breathing air from an infected person.
Initially, scientists thought the virus had to be spread through larger particles from sneezing or coughing, but the study showed tiny particles containing the flu virus come out when the person breathes. The scary part - those particles can stay in the air for minutes even hours.