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Are we over-reacting, or under-reacting? One Michigan school district has closed 23 schools and sent 11,000 kids home for at least the whole week. Most places are strictly rationing the demand for a woefully short supply of vaccine for a disease that we have known about for almost 6 months.
Are we over-reacting, or under-reacting? One Michigan school district has closed 23 schools and sent 11,000 kids home for at least the whole week. Most places are strictly rationing the demand for a woefully short supply of vaccine for a disease that we have known about for almost 6 months.
Good question. Unfortunately even this has become a political issue. According to the last info I read There are around 3000 deaths this year from influenza and only 800 from H1N1. Not much of a pandemic.
It seems to me if people in third world countries aren't dropping like flies from the swine flue then we don't have much to worry about.
I take the personal decision not to take flu vaccines.
I understand that it doesn't hurt your antibody producing ability, but I feel that there is more to do with the immune system then just antibodies.
So, I welcome the sickness, if its strong enough to overcome my bodies initial barriers. Just like exercising any muscle, I feel if I only work out one part of my body, it weakens the rest.
However, I feel that young children and the elderly should get the vaccines, because their bodies are up to par as of yet.
Of course thats just my decision, and I don't look down at anyone else for getting the vaccines.
I never get the flu shot. This coming season I may. All of my colleagues have gotten the shots already, which gives me pause. I have until Friday to figure it out. My company has been offering shots on site. If I don't do it at work, I probably won't take any other time out to get it at a doctor's office, or where ever people get shots.
1. You are unlikely to suffer any adverse effects, other than brief soreness, from getting the vaccination.
2. If you don't get vaccinated and you do get infected then you are likely to, at best, spend a miserable week or so, pass the disease on to other people who may be in a weaker condition than you, and confront some small likelihood of death or other severe consequences. This is beyond any financial cost from missed work, medical expenses, etc.
3. At this stage of the epidemic we simply don't know how severe the effects will be. True, at this point it doesn't seem that bad. On the other hand, tens of thousands of people die from influenza every year, and you don't want to be one of them, or to infect someone who becomes one of them.
All in all, the tiny risk of harm from the vaccination is minuscule compared to the potential risk of the disease.
I got the regular flu shot 2 weeks ago. I was told I would not be given the swine flu shot. I am 59 and a Diabetic. I actually was surprised I would not be allowed the swine flu shot because of my age and Health status.
Im not overly worried though that I won't have the Swine Flu shot. I do feel we Americans are being kept in a state of fear, and I do wonder about people that do not notice this. If its not the Swine Flu. Its the level or color Terrorist Alert we are under. Its the constant state of war we are in somewhere in the world. Its the state of the economy and we must bailout this company or that company. The list goes on and on and has gotten ridiculous since 9/11. I say shut the damn news off and take your chances in this country, or your life will be filled with this constant Grim Reaper Environment.
So for me the Swine Flu is not going to be an issue to me, because just what can I or anyone do about it. Other than taking as many precautions as we can in our own life to help prevent getting sick. I just don't see what we can do.
The thing with H1N1 is that if it had emerged a few months earlier the WHO would have put it in the regular seasonal flu vaccine and it wouldn't have been a big deal. Because it emerged rather late, and it does seem to be as contagious and widespread as other flu variations, it is noteworthy, but there's no real need to panic. You just do what you'd normally do to stay healthy.
I might have already had it. I returned on March 16 from a two month trip to rural Mexico. Three weeks later, I came down with horrible muscle aches and pains, headaches, and fever, which lasted about 6 days, and my BP dropped to about half what it usually is. But there were no common cold symptoms (coughing, sore throat, congestion, etc.) A couple days after I recovered, I heard for the first time about Swine Flu in Mexico. So it is possible that I was one of the first Swine Flu case in the USA. Of course, I didn't go to a doctor or anything.
It is media hype. Maybe it is more contagious, but it certainly hasn't been shown to have any sort of catastrophic mortality rate. I see it just as any other flu strain. The media wants to cover it as if it is the superflu from The Stand.
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