So, it's time to move on, at least for the day, for something that matters, really matters in many people's daily lives. Flu, lots of it, and an especially hard-hitting variety of it, is hitting large portions of the country and knocking down a lot of people. For anyone who has it, and for anyone who is about to get it, this is serious, and potentially dangerous, business. In the very young and the very old particularly, flu can develop into something fatal. But make no mistake, it can for others as well.
Flu shots can help many people when taken far enough in advance.
But, and this is what's interesting, medical science's ability to protect us against the flu, and even to treat it once we have it, is surprisingly limited. Surprisingly, that is, when compared to all of the high tech advances in such things as heart and brain surgery, organ transplants and the like. When it comes to severe colds and flu, medical research seems to lag. Certainly medical accomplishment does. It is time for American medical science to re-trench, get back to basics and tackle problems like flu epidemics.