Flu shot unable to combat virus strain

Associated Press ^ | Mon, Dec. 15, 2003 | DANIEL Q. HANEY

[goodnesswins]

"The majority of the cause is surely related to eating too much sugar, ......getting inadequate rest."

Need to yell that from the ROOFTOPS! (Eating too many grains? Do you mean as opposed to veggies, if so, then I'll agree with that, too.)

[tacticalogic]

Can't kill a virus.

Actually, it's debatable wheather it's really "alive" to start with. To the degree that it is, your body can make anti-bodies that will effectively "kill" it by altering it so it doesn't work anymore.

[The Coopster]

I had a shot last year, and I've got the flu right now.

I had a shot this year and I got the flu last week.

It's the sickest I've been in years. My wife wanted to call the ambulance, my fever shot up so high.

But, all things considered, I'm 9-1 on flu shots. I'll keep getting them....

[Domestic Church]

"Would someone please explain to me why when I was a child no one got a flu shot and in a class of 42 children, not a one was hospitalized with flu???"

There wasn't an epidemic of pediatric asthma back then.

[tacticalogic]

Eat a few nuts a day

Any particular kind? When the weather turns nasty, I turn into a pistachio and cashew fiend.

[BossLady]

Great interview/article with Dr. Edith Snead on Flu Vaccine:

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/snead1.html

[netmilsmom]

>>God was not surprized by this years flu strain.<<

And to be quite honest with you, if every FReeper would say a prayer that my girls do not get the flu, it would be better than a flu shot any day!

[CyberCowboy777]

Viruses are certainly on the list of invaders that are attacked by White Blood cells.

http://www.healthsprings.net/ImmuneSystem/immune.htm

[concerned about politics]

And while FReepers are at it: someone explain to me why if you say the word "peanut" at least one person keels over.

LOL. No joke. In my opinion, we're a nation of hypocondriacs, and over use of pharmacudicals actually makes us walking petri dishes! Hell, we're like blobs of mush, ready to be hosts to anything that loves human flesh.

I believe in a strong auto immune system. My kids have been exposed, on purpose, to just about everything. I take them for walks in fields, woods, by ponds, cities, animals, and anything new I see when they're very little.
We haven't needed a doctor since their usual new born visits. The oldest is now 14. We pay $0 a year in pharmacudicles.
(I take them for dental check ups, though. Kids often try to brush too fast.)

[Hodar]

Guess what folks get sick and since we are fearfully and wonderfully made, most of the population can fight the flu and get better.

That is true. And most of us can survive without accidents without seatbelts, helmets and air bags. But, as we do have the technology to prevent health issues, why not use them? Now, as for paying money, I'll gladly pay $55 not to be sick in bed for a couple of days. That's just one of the little luxuries in life I like to endulge myself in. If you can avoid being deathly ill, I'll avoid it every time. I just don't enjoy puking and diarhea all that much. But, to each their own ... I hope you avoid the bug; as for me, I'd rather be impervious to it.

[goodnesswins]

almonds, cashews, walnuts, a couple of brazil nuts.....RAW are best....roasted can be rancid (even though they don't taste like it.)

[concerned about politics]

Any particular kind? When the weather turns nasty, I turn into a pistachio and cashew fiend.

Almonds and cashews. You'll know you've eaten enough when they start to work. LOL.
Gotta flush the body. That's how things work.

[DC native]

I had the flu once, many years ago. It was the real McCoy...I was acutely ill for two weeks with a lingering cough for two more weeks, and I was young and healthy.

I keep hearing about people who have the "flu," and it doesn't sound like the real thing to me when I hear a description of their symptoms and the duration. I think they are labeling short-term viral illnesses as the "flu," when in fact they are not.

[Hodar]

but your immune system is greatly enhanced by virtue of a good diet.

No arguement here. A healthy diet means you will RECOVER quickly, you WILL still get sick. Your body does not develop antibodies to something you only hear about; you need the infection first. So, while a healthy lifestyle improves your odds of surviving the infection; it in no way PREVENTS you from getting the sickness to start with.

[CyberCowboy777]

I believe in a strong auto immune system. My kids have been exposed, on purpose, to just about everything. I take them for walks in fields, woods, by ponds, cities, animals, and anything new I see when they're very little. We haven't needed a doctor since their usual new born visits. The oldest is now 14. We pay $0 a year in pharmacudicles. (I take them for dental check ups, though. Kids often try to brush too fast.)

Ditto here - My kids may be dirty at times - but they are healthy.

[kinghorse]

We're all going to die!

[concerned about politics]

Viruses are certainly on the list of invaders that are attacked by White Blood cells.

Yep. Anything foreign.
The body tries to burn them up and freeze them with fever and chills. The mucus is to help flush them out.

[familyop]

"Would someone please explain to me why when I was a child no one got a flu shot and in a class of 42 children, not a one was hospitalized with flu???"

...day care, school, both parents have a chance to get the flu at work instead of just one, day care, then the whole family's exhausted when they arrive home.

[CyberCowboy777]

True. But a healthy system can rid a virus BEFORE it puts you in bed.

Nobody in my family has missed a day of work in years due to any virus.

[verity]

"I had a shot last year, and I've got the flu right now. "

Perhaps a vaccination in lieu of a shot would have been more effective. :)