Tips to help you escape flu Jersey

Flu season generally starts in October, can run as late as May, and peaks in January to February, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

While for the most part it results in symptoms similar to those of a cold — cough, sore throat, runny nose and headache — the flu also has symptoms like fever, achiness, tiredness, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea. It should be noted that unlike a cold, the flu can cause "mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death."

In fact, the CDC estimates that over a 30 year period, "influenza-associated deaths in the United States range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people. And, on average, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized in the United States each year due to complications related to seasonal influenza."

The best way to prevent getting the flu, experts agree, is to get vaccinated every year.

Seasonal vaccines are developed for the three influenza strains that research predicts will be most prevalent that year. There are two ways to receive the vaccine: via an injection, or through a nasal mist. The injectable vaccine is created using the killed virus and is appropriate for use in anyone over 6 months of age.

The nasal mist is made with live, weakened viruses, and is "sometimes called LAIV for 'Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine'," according to the CDC. The nasal mist can be used on healthy individuals between the ages of 2 and 49, but should not be used by pregnant women.

Be sure to eat a healthy diet, including lots of colorful vegetables and yogurt, which is believed to stimulate your immune system and drink plenty of water, which helps to flush toxins from your system. Also include plenty of ginger, garlic, and dark leafy greens, suggests herbalist Robin Rose Bennett, of West Milford.

"Ginger and garlic can be used in cooking, and ginger tea is also good. Ginger and garlic can both be chopped and infused in a jar with raw local honey, ready to use within 24 hours, but (it) only gets better over months of time...all these are safe for kids, except the usual caution regarding infants not being given honey for one year," says Bennett.

Fraunhofer Develops 3D Herpes Model to Test Potential Treatments

Approximately 90 percent of people are carrying the herpes simplex virus, but the virus spends most of its time in a dormant state which has proven difficult to research. Now, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB have developed a 3D herpes infection model which they are now using to study the virus’ dormant state. The investigators claim their research will aid in the testing of future cold sore treatments by reducing the need for animal testing.

From the press release:

    To date the skin models used for drug testing and to detect the virus have been very simple and unable to simulate the dormancy state of the virus. “We have integrated a neuronal cell line into the certified skin model of the IGB and are able to detect this latency stage for the first time.”

    Research on active ingredients can profit from the 3D herpes infection model of the researchers from IGB, a model that also enables improved study of infection mechanisms. This procedure might also be used to test new medications for shingles, which is also caused by a variant strain of the herpes virus.