# What happened to flu names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972 "2003-03-17T11:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972/1 "2003-03-17T11:58:50Z")
Sure, I hear a lot of talk about flu shots and flu seasons…but, what happened to naming the flu, like Hong Kong flu, or Swine flu? Do we do this anymore? And, why did we used to? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972/2 "2003-03-17T12:07:11Z")
It’s still done, in a way, **Jinx**. [This diagram](http://www.ahcpub.com/ahc_root_html/hot/sponsored/influenza_figure2.html) shows how new 'flu strains are named after their type, origin, year isolated, etc. Why? It tells the strains apart in a rapidly evolving virus. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972/3 "2003-03-17T19:38:49Z")
the “flu” is short for influenza, an italian word for influence. In the Middle Ages, people believed that you got sick because you were exposed to a bad influence, most likely infested damps, or poisoned air. They didn’t know anything about bacteria or viruses (the flu is a virus). The term got used widely, and as Ice Wolf posted, different strains with a different virulence were given different names, mostly according to the place where it first rears its head. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972/4 "2003-03-17T20:28:15Z")
[ul] **It was giving southeastern asia a bad name. 😉** [/ul] > [@](#): > > _from [Science Daily News](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/10/981013074718.htm)_ > \*\*“The large population and crowded conditions in Asia, especially in China, make it a perfect place for new strains of the flu to arise,” he says. “The flu needs a large population to exist due to its rapid spread and the protective immunity that develops in people. In addition, vaccinations against the flu are not very common in Asia.” > > Henderson cites another reason. > > "People in Asia have a much closer relationship with animals than in other parts of the world. Ducks and swine, two animals that many Asians live in close contact with, are carriers of the flu. It’s believed that new strains of the flu pass from these animals to humans as evidenced by last year’s cases of ‘bird flu.’ " > > According to Henderson, new strains of the flu take on the name of the city where they are first identified.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-flu-names/161972/5 "2003-03-18T03:13:47Z")
We’ve learned more about how the virus works, and what exactly the differences are between various strains, so we now have a more precise and specific nomenclature system.