Freepers must not remember ‘Mother Abigail’ the retired CDC scientist who posted here. The flu and ebola were a couple of her interests and she thought they were both pretty dangerous.
I get the shot. Don’t particularly want to drown in a cytokine storm as my immune system goes berserk fighting a hybrid human/animal flu. A swine or bird flu, like the 1918 flu that killed people by the millions. Children who lived through it spoke of being kissed goodbye by their healthy parents as they left for school, and then coming home to find that they were orphans. That’s how dangerous a flu virus can be. I don’t think most people realize it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2286992/posts?page=79
At my most recent assignment, I was the influenza expert. I’ve had to pass the torch, but during that time, I read hundreds of articles on the flu. Most people shrug it off as a negligible threat, but in reality, tens of thousands of people die of it in the US alone every year. When a new strain arises, that death rate can be multiplied. Some of those avian flus circulating (mostly) in Asia have case fatality rates of 30% (H7N9) or above 50% (H5N1).
I do not ever recall having the flu, but people have told me that having it is a miserable experience.
Influenza is, indeed, scary stuff.