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One Bad Bug!

It's a sickness that slams you like a hammer. One minute you feel just fine. Next thing you know, you're shivering, then burning up. Your legs turn to jelly. Your body aches. No matter how much you hate bedtime, when you have the flu, you just want to go straight to bed.

Flu season lasts from November to April, and 31 states already have big outbreaks. Hospitals are packed. "I'm sending home twice as many kids as I usually do," says Jane Allen, a school nurse in Lubbock, Texas. Even in an ordinary flu season, 1 out of 10 Americans catches the bug. "Children have the highest attack rate," says Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tiny Virus, Big Trouble
Like the common cold, influenza (flu, for short) is caused by a tiny virus. It spreads from person to person on the wet droplets of a cough or a sneeze. Once inside the body, the virus settles into the lining of the lungs, nose and throat. There the invaders make copies of themselves and spread farther.

A healthy person can usually fight off the flu in three to five days, but another sickness often follows. That's what happened to Phillip Winston, 10, of New City, New York. After a week, he finally beat the flu. "Then I got an ear infection," he says.

For elderly people and people who suffer from asthma and other illnesses, the flu can be dangerous. Doctors say these people should get a shot of flu vaccine every year.

Rest and drinking plenty of fluids are the keys to getting over the flu. And you should stay away from other people, warns Dr. Bridges. "It's not a nice thing to pass along to your friends."

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