There is such panic around here about the flu pandemic. It's another case of the media whipping everyone into a frenzy for nothing. Someone dying of the flu should not be story number one on the national news. She was 83 for chrissakes. We all have a chance of dying when we get the flu, but we don't panic like this every year. This hysteria is causing people to behave irrationally, standing out in the cold for 8 hours with their children waiting to get vaccinated. And it's not even their turn. I don't know how it's working where you live but up here they have set the timeline for when you can get the vaccine, health workers first, then people with babies and compromised immune systems etcetera. I'm eligible starting December 7th. Not that I'm going to get vaccinated. It's the flu, and I'm not scared of it. Last time I got the flu I lost ten pounds. Since then I'm up 25 so a little flu diet wouldn't bother me at all. Anyway, people are lining up in "me first" fashion claiming that they have ailments that they don't so they can get vaccinated first. They also mentioned on the news that those who don't want to wait their turn can drive down to Walmart across the border and pay $30 for a shot. (It's free up here.)
If it were really that dangerous, we would be seeing piles and piles of dead bodies in countries where vaccination is not happening. But no, we're going apeshit over an elderly person's death. Ridiculous.
15 comments:
Here in the UK, flu stories don't make headlines any more. I don't think there's any form of the kind of panic you describe.
I don't think I would get vaccinated as well if I were you.
How's Georgie doing?
Well I have never been a fan of riding the hysteria bandwagon, but I talked to a friend of mine who is a doctor and she strongly recommends that if you are offered a vaccination, get it. This is the flu, but this one has an extra whopper in that it gets nestled in your lungs and packs quite a wallop.
I'm with you though, a flu diet would look wonderful on me!
Big Midwestern University also went crazy over H1N1 early in the semester. I had to sit through three or four meetings with that as its sole topic. Quite frankly, I have not seen the massive wave of absent students that they predicted. Nor have they decided to feast on each other's brains.
Justa quick note to say that I really enjoy your blog.
Cheers,
Frank
Couldn't agree more. Every year people die of ordinary flu, from the elderly to healthy children and everyone in between. But hey, tv stations need income from advertisers and their rates go up with the number of viewers, so they'll use whatever they can. Call me cynical
OMG I've wanted to blog about this too...I'm so bloody sick of hearing about this particular strain of the flu. Mass hysteria is right, it's completely retarded.
I'm also hoping for the H1N1 Weight Loss! LOL!
The local Walmart does not have any flu vaccine. Here we can't get even the seasonal flu shot. I think they are sending it to the large metropolitan areas first. I did see were the Virgin Islands got a large supply but call me crazy I thought flu only flourished in cold air. ed
Actually, H1N1 is a bit more deadly than seasonal flu and has caused deaths in people who wouldn't have been expected to die from regular seasonal flu, but both do cause some deaths. Since I work with The General Pubic and am a healthcare worker (it's been confirmed in a few companion animals, too), I do need to get the vaccine. I'm not worried about dying from it, necessarily, but a) flu is generally a bitch of a virus that takes me weeks to fully recover from and b) sick leave cuts into available vacation days.
Oh, I almost forgot, ed. Deadly flu strains actually come quite often from tropical and subtropical regions, and most often from situations where humans and livestock live in close proximity with poor hygiene. H1N1 came up out of Mexico and most likely originated on pig farms there, but it also contains genetic material that came from the US previously and worked its way south of the border. The avian flu that had epidemiologists worried before this piggy strain came along originated in Southeast Asia, where it's common for people to have their ducks and chickens living in or under their houses.
bunch of hoo haa down here...more people die of cancer and heart disease each year, but are the media getting their collective panties in a bunch over THAT? hell no!
I got the seasonal flu shot (asthma) but I refuse to get the H1N1...besides, no one has any vaccine anyway.
And there's worse in the bandwagon sense... people up this way are somehow selling coupons in the street for vaccination shots. Some sort of claim about jumping the queue... I don't care enough to look into it, but it just adds to the entire circus atmosphere. And I'm with you on the weight-loss thing. I'd be glad to get plenty of bed rest AND lose 10 lbs. :)
I'm not getting either shot. For all the good they do me. Turns out I don't usually get sick during flu season. Seriously, the last time I got really sick was almost 25 years ago.
The thing with H1N1 is it moves fast. Onset of symptoms occurs from 3 to 6 hours after exposure. Symptoms, dry cough, fever of 100 or more, things like that.
H1N1 does indeed nestle in the lungs. They think the deaths are the result of a thing called a cytokine storm. In other words, your immune system in overdrive.
Look, just avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth in public, and frequent hand washing/sanitizing is in order.
I've never gotten a flue shot and I don't think I will bother this year either. Maybe after I reach 60.
Well, here's hoping you naysayers don't need a hospital bed, let alone an ICU or respirator due to pneumonia or any such ailments.
ED volume is up. ICU occupancy in many places is tapped out and we're months away from the peak of flu season.
Well....let's just call it a marketing frenzy instead of a media frenzy, and all will come clear, no? Get everyone all sacred of dying and they surely will ask their gubment to cough up for the vaccine, and you make lotsa money!
For TRUTH about vaccines and vaccinations, go visit Dr. Mercola's site.
The only time I EVER got the flu was the two (2) times that I got a FLU SHOT. 'Nuf said.
Eaubeauhorn
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