“Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes swelling and irritation of the tissues, called inflammation, in the digestive tract. This can lead to belly pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition.

Inflammation caused by Crohn’s disease can affect different areas of the digestive tract in different people. Crohn’s most commonly affects the end of the small intestine and the beginning of the large intestine. The inflammation often spreads into the deeper layers of the bowel.”

MAYO CLINIC (Crohn’s disease – Symptoms and causes – Mayo Clinic)

Cancer Surveillance

You will need more-frequent screening for colon cancer because of your increased risk. The recommended schedule will depend on the location of your disease and how long you have had it. People with inflammation of the rectum, also known as proctitis, are not at increased risk of colon cancer.

If your disease involves more than your rectum, you will require a surveillance colonoscopy every 1 to 2 years.

”This week is National Influenza Vaccination Week, and the American Lung Association today announced a campaign urging everyone six months and older to get their annual flu shot, following one of the most severe flu seasons the U.S. has experienced in recent history. The 2024–2025 flu season was classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a high severity season, with the highest flu hospitalization rate since the 2010-11 season.

Influenza, or the flu, is a serious and potentially life-threatening respiratory illness that spreads easily from person to person. While anyone can get the flu, those living with chronic medical conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic lung diseases, are at increased risk for developing serious flu-related complications.”

American Lung Association (American Lung Association Urges Flu Vaccination Following Most Severe Flu Season in Over a Decade | American Lung Association | American Lung Association)

FLU FACTS:

-Both colds and flu usually last the same seven to 10 days, but flu can go three to four weeks; the flu virus may not still be there, but you have symptoms long after it has left. Allergy can last weeks or months.  The CDC states regarding the rise of the flu since the past 40 years from the date provided in this sentence with updating this article from Sept 20, 2022 the following: “During this 40-year period, flu activity most often peaked in February (17 seasons), followed by December (7 seasons), January (6 seasons) and March (6 seasons).”

-The winter flu epidemic will be coming around us again and in a given locality it reaches its peak in 2 to 3 weeks and lasts 5 to 6 weeks. Then is disappears as quickly as it arrived. The reason for this is not completely clear. The usual pattern is for a rise in the incidence of flu in children, which precedes an increase in the adult population.  Know this it repeats again certain seasons as listed above by the CDC.

-The flu virus can lead to serious complications, including bronchitis, viral or bacterial pneumonia and even death in elderly and chronically ill patients. Twenty thousand or more people die of the flu in the America each year. Know this that the frequency of human contact across the world and the highly infectious nature of the virus make this explanation difficult to accept. Moreover there is no evidence of persistent or latent infection with influenza viruses. In any case, this idea is not really very difficult from the notion that the virus circulates at a low level throughout the year and seizes its opportunity to cause an outbreak when conditions allow.

-Even harder to explain is why the flu disappears from a community when there are still a large number of people susceptible to infection. Than even harder than that is why flu is a winter disease, which is not fully understood or known. However, flu is spread largely by droplet (aerosol) infection from individuals with high viral level in their nasal and throat secretions, sneezing, and coughing on anyone close at hand. The aerosol droplets of the right size (thought to be about 1.5 micrometers in diameter) remain airborne and are breathed into the nose or lungs of the next victim.

-Situations in which people are crowded together are more commonly in cold or wet weather and so perhaps this contributes to spreading the flu at these times. It is interesting that in equatorial countries, flu occurs throughout the year, but is highest in the monsoon or rainy season. Enough about facts but onto logical thinking for when we or someone we know has it and what questions we might be asking ourselves.  

LOGICAL QUESTIONS YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF:

Are the treatments for these illnesses the cold or the flu different?

For any of these things, if it affects the nose or sinus, just rinsing with saline that gets the mucus and virus out is a first-line defense. It’s not the most pleasant thing to do, but it works very well.

There are classes of medicines that can help the flu — Tamiflu and Relenza — antivirals that block viruses’ ability to reproduce and shorten the length and severity of the illness. But they have to be taken within 48 hours or the cat is proverbially out of the bag [because by then] the virus has done the most of its reproduction.

For a cold or flu, rest and use decongestants and antihistamines, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, chicken soup and fluids. Zinc supposedly helps the body’s natural defenses work to their natural capacity and decrease the severity and length of a cold. Cells need zinc as a catalyst in their protective processes, so if you supply them with zinc, it helps them work more efficiently.

You should also withhold iron supplements. Viruses use iron as part of their reproductive cycle, so depriving them of it blocks their dissemination. The majority of these infections are not bacterial and do not require [nor will they respond to] antibiotics. My rule of thumb is that a viral infection should go away in seven to 10 days. If symptoms persist after that, you’d consider if it’s bacteria like Strep or Haemophilus.  Those bacteria cause illnesses that are longer lasting and need antibiotics for ranging 3 to 14 days, depending on the med used.

Is that treatment approach the same for kids versus adults? In general, the same rules apply: Most children will have six to eight colds a year in their first three years of life, and most are viral. Adults have 3 or more a year. It’s very easy to test for strep and for that you should have a [positive] culture [before treating with antibiotics]. The principle behind that is knowing the organism the doctor will know what antibiotic to use to fight off the bacterial infection and you won’t build up antibodies from the antibiotic that you didn’t need in the first place if you are given the wrong antibiotic in the beginning.

Are there strategies for avoiding cold and flu different? Avoidance is very similar for both: Strict hand washing, not sharing drinking cups or utensils, and avoiding direct contact with people who are sneezing. Their transmission is similar. As long as someone has a fever, they have the possibility to transmit infection. After they’ve had no fever for 24 hours, they’re not infectious anymore.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that just about everyone get the flu shot: kids 6 months to 19 years of age, pregnant women, people 50 and up, and people of any age with compromised immune systems. Is the shot beneficial to anyone who gets it? Unless you have a contraindication, there’s no reason not to get it=PREVENTION. Contraindications include egg allergy (because the vaccine is grown from egg products), any vaccines within a last week or two, and active illness at the time of your vaccine.

The best to do is PREVENTION so you can avoid the cold or flu in its active phase or post phase, so doing the following will help prevent it:

Get vaccinated yearly if your a candidate and live a healthy lifestyle overall=Good dieting, living good healthy habits and maintaining exercise with rest daily or 2 to 3 times a week including get a vaccine yearly for the flu with maintaining good clean anti-infection habits like as simply as washing the hands as directed above.

****Recommended is to check with your MD on any changes with diet or exercise especially if diagnosed already with disease or  and on medications especially; for your safety.****

References on The FLU and The COLD:

1-Wikipedia “the free encyclopedia” 2013 website under the topic Influenza.

2-Kimberly Clark Professional website under the influenza.

3-Web MD under “COLD, FLU, COUGH CENTER” “Flu or cold symptoms?” Reviewed by Laura J. Martin MD November 01, 2011

4-2013 Novartis Consumer Health Inc. Triaminic “Fend off the Flu”

5-Scientific American “Why do we get the flu most often in the winter? Are viruses virulent in cold weather? December 15, 1997

“Influenza A and influenza B have a lot in common. But there are some overarching differences between the two flu types. For example, influenza A usually accounts for more flu cases and causes more severe illness than type B flu. For example, flu A accounted for 96% of flu cases reported in late 2024.

Another difference is how the flu types affect kids. “In children, influenza A is associated with more ear infections than influenza B, while influenza B is associated with more seizures, vomiting and diarrhea than influenza type A,” says Dr. Mossad.

But the single most important difference is this: Influenza B flu only infects humans. Influenza A, on the other hand, can infect birds and mammals. This explains why antigenic shift can occur with influenza A, but not influenza B.

Anyone can catch these viruses. But babies and older adults are more likely to have more severe symptoms, Dr. Mossad shares.”

Cleveland Clinic (Influenza A vs. Influenza B)

The CDC states the following:

“There are four types of influenza viruses: A, B, C and D. Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease (known as flu season) almost every winter in the United States. Influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause flu pandemics, i.e., global epidemics of flu disease. A pandemic can occur when a new and different influenza A virus emerges that both infects people and has the ability to spread efficiently among people. Influenza C virus infections generally cause mild illness and are not thought to cause human epidemics. Influenza D viruses primarily affect cattle and are not known to infect or cause illness in people.

Influenza A viruses are divided into subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). There are 18 different hemagglutinin subtypes and 11 different neuraminidase subtypes (H1 through H18 and N1 through N11, respectively). While more than 130 influenza A subtype combinations have been identified in nature, primarily from wild birds, there are potentially many more influenza A subtype combinations given the propensity for virus “reassortment.” Reassortment is a process by which influenza viruses swap gene segments. Reassortment can occur when two influenza viruses infect a host at the same time and swap genetic information. Current subtypes of influenza A viruses that routinely circulate in people include: A(H1N1) and A(H3N2). Influenza A subtypes can be further broken down into different genetic “clades” and “sub-clades.” See the “Influenza Viruses” graphic below for a visual depiction of these classifications.

Currently circulating influenza A(H1N1) viruses are related to the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus that emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused a flu pandemic (CDC 2009 H1N1 Flu website). These viruses, scientifically called the “A(H1N1)pdm09 virus,” and more generally called “2009 H1N1,” have continued to circulate seasonally since then and have undergone genetic changes and changes to their antigenic properties (i.e., the properties of the virus that affect immunity).

Influenza A(H3N2) viruses also change both genetically and antigenically. Influenza A(H3N2) viruses have formed many separate, genetically different clades in recent years that continue to co-circulate.

Influenza B viruses are not divided into subtypes, but instead are further classified into two lineages: B/Yamagata and B/Victoria. Similar to influenza A viruses, influenza B viruses can then be further classified into specific clades and sub-clades. Influenza B viruses generally change more slowly in terms of their genetic and antigenic properties than influenza A viruses, especially influenza A(H3N2) viruses. Influenza surveillance data from recent years shows co-circulation of influenza B viruses from both lineages in the United States and around the world. However, the proportion of influenza B viruses from each lineage that circulate can vary by geographic location and by season. In recent years, flu B/Yamagata viruses have circulated much less frequently in comparison to flu B/Victoria viruses globally.”.

Consider the FLU VACCINE!

“Holiday Safety Toolbox Talks are brief safety discussions held on the job, usually at the start of a shift or before a task. They focus specifically on hazards that become more common or more severe during the holiday period, such as:

Safety in the house with decorations:

Turn off and unplug decorations when leaving the house or going to bed.

Use decorations that have safety certification labels.

Use battery-operated candles to avoid shock or fire

Inspect electrical connections before use and don’t leave any lithium battery operated things in your house.

Here a few tips to stay healthy in December:

Light Your Tree, but Not on Fire: Christmas trees are reported to cause 200+ structure fires annually. Pick a flame retardant tree or a live, healthy tree with fresh green needles that don’t fall off easily. Make sure to keep all trees at least 3 feet away from all heat sources.

Deck the Halls Safely: Fires caused by decorative lights account for $7.9 million in property damages annually. Use safe lighting that’s tested, rated and stamped with the (UL)) label. Make sure your lighting isn’t frayed and that you use only 3 sets of lights per extension cord.

Cook with Care: 2/3 of all holiday fires start in the kitchen. Don’t leave your pots and pans unattended!

More tips regarding your diet:

• Exercise regularly
• Stay away from tempting foods and eat slower
• Wear clothes that can keep you warm
• Avoid sugary drinks and foods
• Drink more water
• Visit your doctor regularly to diagnose health problems before they become worse

St. John’s Hopkins Hospital recommends for gifts this holiday season:

1. Follow Recommendations

Choose toys that are age appropriate. Be sure to follow the toy’s age recommendations, often found on the toy’s box.

2. Beware of Small Parts

Do not buy toys with small parts for young children. Also, check toys for any loose parts that may fall off. A small-parts tester, which is a tube about the diameter of a child’s windpipe, can be purchased at online retailers, or a toilet paper roll can be used to determine if a toy is too small.

3. Avoid Sharp Edges

Toys should not have sharp edges or points, including hard, thin plastic or metal that may be attached to an item.

4. Avoid Long Cords or Strings

Cords or strings longer than 7 inches could be potential choking hazards.

5. Watch for Old Paint

Avoid buying older painted toys, which could contain lead.

6. Include Protective Gear

When purchasing bikes, scooters, skateboards and other riding toys that require balance, always buy safety gear.

Remember to watch children, particularly young kids, when they are playing with toys. If there is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. Following these suggestions will help make the holiday happy and safe.”

Dr. Leticia Manning Ryan is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics &                 Dr. Perno is the vice president of medical affairs at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. He joined the hospital staff in 2003.

Johns Hopkins (Dr. Joseph Frank Perno, MD – Saint Petersburg, FL – Pediatric Emergency Medicine)