Don't Let the Flu Mess with You

The fall air brings much delight: jack-o-lanterns, apple pies, and piles of crunchy, multicolored leaves to jump in. It also brings some not-so-delightful things, like influenza. Every year, as you sip your first pumpkin latte of the season or buy your favorite pumpkin ale, you should think to yourself "now would be a great time to get a flu shot".

Despite historical evidence that influenza is nothing to mess around with, its power is often drastically minimized. The flu is not just a bad cold. Have you ever heard of someone being killed by a cold? I didn't think so. Influenza has the potential to be so deadly that it is responsible for one of the worst epidemics ever recorded: the 1918 flu , also called the "Spanish flu", which killed at least 20 million people. Though most flu strains aren't this dangerous, even seasonal flu causes thousands of deaths every year. And as 2009 reminded us, flu pandemics are not an event of the past. 

It's true that most people who get the flu won't die or suffer complications such as pneumonia, but they will be miserable, bed-ridden sacks of viruses. If you've had the flu, you know that it confines you to a horizontal position for about a week (sorry, no such thing as the "24-hour flu") while you alternate between fever-induced delusions and writhing in pain from body aches. It's not a good time. Not even worth some sick days. Trust me, the movies you've been wanting  to watch will not be funny if you have the flu.

If that's not reason enough to make you want to avoid the flu, consider what your infected respiratory droplets might do to those around you. Oh, you're home alone watching movies and won't get anyone else sick? WRONG - that strategy won't work. When you become infected with the flu, you are contagious for one day before you begin having symptoms.

Your best bet for protecting yourself and those around you is to get vaccinated each fall. While the flu vaccine doesn't provide immunity for all flu variations, it does guard against the three strains which are expected to be most common during a given season. Because there are so many strains of flu virus, and the virus is constantly mutating, the vaccine changes every year. Researchers around the world monitor flu activity in order to determine how the vaccine should be formulated for each flu season (talk about a stressful job). It's important to note that the vaccine is made from killed viruses, in other words the viruses cannot make you sick! The part of the virus that your immune system needs in order to produce antibodies against the pathogen remains. However, it is impossible for the flu vaccine to cause the flu (unless the nurse who gave you the shot sneezed on you).

Flu season generally peaks in winter, so now is the time to get vaccinated. Be smart and don't let the flu mess with you!

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Babies come from gametes: The truth about the birds and bees

If "the talk" your parent(s) gave you about the birds and the bees was anything like mine, it probably went a little something like this...

Mom: "When a man and a woman love each other... blah, blah, blah."
Me: (rolls eyes) "I already know this stuff, mom. I read about it in the encyclopedia."
Mom: "Blah, blah, blah."
Me: (looks disgusted because mom is talking about genitals)
Mom: "Blah, blah, blah.. and that's how a baby is made. Do you have any questions?"
Me: "No."

My mom deserves a huge round of applause because she did a great job handling that painfully awkward conversation. Not to mention, she let me live even though I was a little smart ass who thought looking up the terms "intercourse" and "reproduction" in a book somehow made me an authority on the subject. She also said many important, intelligent things that were not "blah" but that's how my know-it-all, embarrassed, 11 year-old self interpreted the content. Sorry, mom.

I won't pretend to know how to explain the origins of babies to children, but since we are all adults here (or seriously advanced children... does your mom know you're reading this?) we can say it like it is: there are lots of ways that babies are made!

First off, all babies might be gooey balls of love, but not all of them come from love. Sometimes babies are products of lust or failed birth control or too much tequila. Whatever the reasons behind conception, the worth of the baby is no different.

Secondly, not all babies are made by a man and a woman. To be accurate, all human babies are made from a sperm and an egg. But how this happens and who is involved in the baby-making varies from zygote to zygote. Here are some baby-making methods that were probably missing from your birds and bees talk:

• Eggs without sperm: Two people with eggs in a relationship, whether they be two women or a woman and a transman or any other combination, still have lots of options for pregnancy. One or both of the partners may choose to attempt pregnancy using donor sperm (preferably they try at different times because one pregnant person per household is plenty). They may choose a donor from a sperm bank or use a donor that is known to them (a friend or relative that is willing to donate). Once the sperm supply is identified, the partner attempting pregnancy may be inseminated in a clinic that offers alternative insemination services or choose to inseminate at home. Another option, in the case of partnered women each with a functional uterus, is to use one partner's egg and have the other partner carry the baby. This would occur through in vitro fertilization: the eggs would be retrieved from one partner, fertilized by donor sperm in a petri dish, and then implanted into the uterus of the partner carrying the baby. Single women who want to get pregnant without a partner, may also opt to use the alternative insemination techniques previously described.

• Sperm without eggs: Making babies when neither partner has eggs or a uterus is a little trickier but science can help with this too. One of the partner's sperm can be used to impregnate a surrogate. The surrogate can be known or someone who is found through a surrogacy agency. Depending on the arrangement, the surrogate may be directly inseminated with the sperm (using her own egg) or, as is typically the case, eggs will be obtained through an egg donor. In the case of a donor, the eggs will be fertilized with sperm via in vitro fertilization and then implanted into the surrogate's uterus. This is more common as the surrogate then has no genetic relationship to the baby she carries, avoiding messy legal repercussions. 

Alternative insemination techniques or in vitro fertilization may also be used when a man and women have difficult conceiving "the old-fashioned way".

Additionally, making a baby doesn't have to involve your own gametes (reproductive cells). No, I'm not referring to storks. I'm talking about adoption, an option for many families who can't conceive on their own or just opt not to.

So, now you know the truth: babies come from gametes. The rest is variable. And you're welcome. Your answer to "where do babies come from?" just became a lot less awkward. 

Lady Mosquitoes: Free Rides for Pathogens

Itchy welts left behind by mosquitoes are one thing, but the microscopic friends they can leave behind are another thing all together

Mosquito-borne diseases have been making national headlines recently through record-breaking numbers of West Nile virus and emerging cases of Eastern equine encephalitis. Though these are certainly newsworthy trends, there is nothing new about how good mosquitoes are at transmitting infectious diseases. It should come as no surprise given all the extra time they've had to evolve.While mosquitoes have been flying around Earth for approximately 220 million years , modern humans emerged only 200,000 years ago. This means that to mosquitoes, we really are nothing but fresh meat. At least to lady mosquitoes.

Female mosquitoes are the only ones interested in feeding on us as they need protein from our blood to develop their eggs. They track us down by scent, visual clues, and heat detection - all so they can use us as a blood meal for the purpose of laying up to 300 eggs. Unlike vampires, mosquitoes don't actually bite. Why are they called mosquito bites? Good question. Instead of biting, they actually pierce our skin with a mouth part called a proboscis. This is basically a needle-like structure that is used to suck our blood.

Since lady mosquitoes are essentially sticking us with used needles* every time they feed on us, it's no wonder they have an affinity for being disease vectors. With all the blood they drink, mosquitoes often slurp up blood-borne pathogens (viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause illness). These pathogens then get a free ride to a new host without causing any harm to the mosquito, thanks to her anciently refined immune system. Transmission occurs through the mosquito's saliva, which is injected prior to feeding (it contains anticoagulants which are substances that prevent your blood from clotting). In addition to the aforementioned West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis, mosquitoes can also infect humans with several other diseases including:

• Malaria
• Dengue fever
• Western equine encephalitis 
• Japanese encephalitis
• St. Louis encephalitis
• La Crosse encephalitis
• Yellow fever
• Rift Valley fever

The upshot? Not all pathogens survive after they've been ingested by a mosquito and therefore cannot be transmitted to a new host. Thankfully, this is the case for HIV. In case you didn't catch that the first time: mosquitoes do not transmit HIV!

Mosquitoes may have millions of years of evolution in their favor, but our big brains have found some ways to make ourselves seem less tasty to wannabe mama mosquitoes. Here are some ways you can prevent yourself from being used as a blood meal when participating in outdoor activities during mosquito season:

• Use an insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus (also called PMD), or IR3535.
• Minimize skin exposure and wear light-colored clothing when in mosquito infested areas (e.g. wooded areas or areas with large bodies of standing water).
• Minimize areas of standing water around your home.
• Don't keep windows and doors open unless you have intact screens. 

Another safety measure you can take is to follow recommendations for prophylactic medications and vaccines when traveling to countries with high rates of mosquito-borne diseases.

When I was a teenager I thought smelling like bug spray was worse than putting up with itchy mosquito bites. I would like to officially retract that opinion.

*While the proboscis of a mosquito resembles a needle, a feeding mosquito does not employee the same mechanisms of a hypodermic syringe. Used syringes (also called needles) pose a different set of threats and should not be confused with insects.