How Does Flu Virus 101 | National Geographic Work?

The flu virus is like a sneaky guest who wants to join your party and make everyone feel sick.

When someone who has the flu coughs or sneezes, tiny invisible germs called viruses float into the air like little dust bunnies. If you breathe them in, they land in your nose or throat, just like when you blow your nose after a sneeze.

Once inside your body, the virus starts to work its tricks. It wants to make more of itself, so it uses your cells as tiny factories. These factories create more viruses, which then go to other parts of your body, like your lungs or even your brain. That’s why you might feel achy, hot, and tired, the virus is causing a little chaos inside you!

Your body doesn’t just sit there and take it. It sends out fighters called white blood cells to attack the viruses. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, but that’s how you get better!

When the last of the virus is gone, you’re back to feeling like a superhero again.