A virus is even creepier when viewed thru this Discovery Channel interactive

As someone with a deranged work ethic who rarely gets sick, I tend to be pretty ignorant when it comes to commonplace things like how to have a cold or flu. Being this ignorant myself, I had NO IDEA that so many of my friends were health experts. Mention you have a few cold or flu symptoms and they all pull a clipboard out of thin air and start with the questions: “Are you getting plenty of fluids? Are you nauseous? Are you congested in your sinuses? It might be BACTERIAL, you know” and so on. Pretty soon I get convinced I have some airborne version of Ebola or something. And then I just get curious. So first of all, the cold vs flu debate: According to both the CDC and WebMD, there’s no way to tell which is which without a test in the early stages. They’re similar viruses, but colds tend to start slowly, last longer, and symptoms are usually confined to headaches and runny noses. A flu comes comes on much faster (the phrase “hits you like a truck” was used on several of the health sites I looked at) has deeper, broader symptoms that include body aches, nausea, etc. and can leave you fatigued for weeks after it’s run its course. Another big difference is that a flu is more likely to set you up for a bacterial infection like pneumonia, and not in the manner we’ve traditionally assumed. If you find this whole topic of viruses interesting, this Discovery Channel interactive wins the creepy award hands down, with its black backgrounds, hacker greens, crimson blood reds, and morbid ambient soundtrack. So just be careful researching health issues on the web. The fact that I’m still ill and a little slow in the brain as I type this, combined with about a half hour of light research, and suddenly I had a mild case of Cyberchondria developing. I mean, did you know that frequent urination and headache can be a sign of adrenal cancer? So be safe. Be sensible. Just get yourself to the doctor, and get a flu shot. Never mind that your shot is made from the diseased flesh of African Green Monkeys.

I’m not sure what it means when the kissing couple appears when you hover over this guy’s groin, but this Discovery Channel interactive wins my creepy award for other reasons.