AlamoPA Mailing List: Fw: According to "snopes.com" this is a false story. If you hear anything else please let me know. 97 people in Calif. have died of this flu (20 in S.F. Bay Area)

[Sallie Carlson (wacsc11945]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Robert Ahrenkiel <gp-bob11 [at] att.net>
To: Sallie Carlson <wacsc11945 [at] yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2018 7:05 PM
Subject: According to "snopes.com" this is a false story. If you hear anything else please let me know. 97 people in Calif. have died of this flu (20 in S.F. Bay Area)

CLAIM

Onions placed in bowls around your home will fight off the flu virus.

RATING

 FALSE

ORIGIN

Although influenza is no longer the unchecked grim reaper of years past (in 1918 it killed half a million Americans and twenty to forty million folks worldwide), it continues to present a very real danger even in these more modern times. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), millions of people in the United States (about 10% to 20% of U.S. residents) will get the flu each year. Influenza also costs Americans $10 billion annually in lost wages and medical expenses. Worst of all, every year about 36,000 people in the United States die from it, and 114,000 have to be admitted to the hospital because of it. The flu is not just a week of feeling lousy and missing work; it is a disease that can and does kill.

The 2009 outbreak of H1N1 (swine) flu brought home even to those who didn’t normally ponder such matters the danger posed by contagions dismissively regarded in other years as mere seasonal flu, maladies that are thought of as wholly unpleasant but not life threatening. In 2009, people became more aware of the sniffles and sneezes around them. Also, unlike in other years, more folks were actively looking for ways to avoid catching the flu — including by unconventional means, such as those referenced in the following message: