Posted on 12/04/2012 6:10:52 PM PST by blam
All Signs Indicate That This Flu Season Is Going To Be Brutal
Jennifer Welsh
Dec. 4, 2012, 6:53 PM
The flu season could be especially bad this year, and is one of the earliest-starting flu seasons in a decade, said Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control.
"This is the earliest regular flu season we've had in nearly a decade, since the 2003-2004 flu season. That was an early and severe flu year," CDC director Thomas Frieden said in a teleconference yesterday Dec. 3.
That season was very severe, especially for children, they said.
This is much different than we saw last year's flu season, which — helped by a late start and a warm winter — was very mild.
Weather.com notes:
The CDC tracks flu cases across America and releases a new report each week which shows local, regional, and statewide flu cases. The most recent report shows half a dozen states reporting widespread outbreaks of the flu. Just one week earlier, no states were reporting widespread outbreaks.
See all the national flu data here.
"While flu is always unpredictable, the early nature of the cases as well as the specific strains we're seeing suggest that this could be a bad flu year," Frieden said. "In summary, flu activity is up, vaccine is the best tool to protect against flu."
The researchers at the CDC can't say why this year is off to such an early start, but it could be because of the strain that's circling. The H3N2 strain is typically associated with severe flu seasons, Frieden said:
"And what we've seen in past years is that H3 predominant years tend to be the worst years. And at least in 2003, also an earlier year."
Some good news though — this year's vaccine is well
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Thanks.
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You’re welcome.
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I’m already hearing State radio give out the same guilt mantra that they did before Hurricane Sandy hit:
You’d better do this because even if you don’t care, you might injure or put someone else at risk! You are being selfish by not wearing the AIDS ribbon!
Meanwhile you are still free to not save for your own retirement or healthcare and expect others to pay while you were buying X-Boxes and cartons of cigs and cellphones and cable tv and $200 Nikes...
Also despite the dire warnings of “heterosexual AIDS” the gay community is still not branded SELFISH for their reckless abandon at which they engage in anonymous sex in public washrooms without using protection or the burden which they put on the medical community to treat their preventable illness.
I understand what you are saying about how the vaccine is developed. That is not my issue. What I am saying is that after three years of mandated flu vaccinations to keep my job, there has been NO effort to collect information as to whether we remained flu free. I know coworkers with small children who all got the swine flu even though they were vaccinated. They were sick enough to go to the Pediatrician who confirmed that it was the H1N1. But, if you just tough it out at home for a few days when you first get sick, no one official knows anything about it. (I really am starting to despise those folks who still come to work ill.)
In Michigan, the State health dept. no longer collects flu death stats independent of pneumonia, which is the real killer. No one is pushing for the pneumonia vaccine. Why not?
Any how, the bottomline is that I never got the flu until they started making me get the vaccine. I don’t take care of patients - I work in a small office with a small number of other staff. I agreed to wear the surgical mask, but was denied that option, which in my book is Wrong! Do you agree?
Thanks for the pings.
In most cases testing for flu is cost prohibitive contrasted with the benefits of testing. Unless there are complications that require a trip to the doctor’s, the ER or a stay in the hospital or someone is at high risk for developing serious complications or there is a real need to receive an anti-viral medication, it’s better to day at home and treat the symptoms, get plenty of rest and not spread the disease by going out in public while sick. Although it is not a subject without some disagreement.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/03/01/hlsd0301.htm
In Michigan, the State health dept. no longer collects flu death stats independent of pneumonia, which is the real killer. No one is pushing for the pneumonia vaccine. Why not?
I don’t know anything about the Michigan department of health, but flu monitoring and the monitoring of the efficacy of each year’s flu vaccine isn’t tracked by individual state’s health departments – that’s done by the WHO and the CDC and it isn’t necessary to test each and every suspected case of influenza in order to gather enough statistical meaningful data. As far as flu death’s most influenza deaths are the result of secondary infections like pneumonia so I’m not sure what you are saying here. And it would seem that The Michigan Department of Community Health does track and report cases of flu to the CDC.
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-2940_2955_22779_40563_48357-191487--,00.html
http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-2940_2955_22779_40563_48357-191487--,00.html
And as far as the pneumonia vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) is part of the routine infant immunization schedule and for older kids with certain medical conditions. The other is pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23; Pneumovax) which is only recommended for adults at increased risk for developing pneumococcal pneumonia including the elderly, people who have diabetes, chronic heart, lung, or kidney disease, those with alcoholism, cigarette smokers, and in those people who have had their spleen removed but otherwise healthy adults are better just to get a flu shot.
Any how, the bottomline is that I never got the flu until they started making me get the vaccine. I don’t take care of patients - I work in a small office with a small number of other staff. I agreed to wear the surgical mask, but was denied that option, which in my book is Wrong! Do you agree?
If you got a flu vaccine and “got” the flu, one of several things might have happened; you caught the flu in the first week or so after getting vaccinated before immunity has built up; you caught one of the strains that that year’s vaccine didn’t cover; you caught a common cold and only thought it was the flu; you are one of those people who have a poor immune response or conversely you have a strong immune response which can cause some people to get flu like symptoms after receiving the vaccine, but bottom line is that the flu vaccine did not give you the flu. As far as why your employer makes a flu shot mandatory for someone like you who works in a small office with a small number of other people, you’d need to ask your employer. But while you don’t work directly with patients, I presume you come in contact with those who do, and with visitors and or patients in the elevator, in the cafeteria, etc.
Do you agree that I should have been allowed to wear a mask while at work?
“As far as flu death’s most influenza deaths are the result of secondary infections like pneumonia so I’m not sure what you are saying here.”
I am agreeing with you that pneumonia is the threat, not the flu, for most Americans—the State of Michigan now combines the flu and pneumonia in “cause of death” stats because it is difficult to determine the culprit in too many cases. I have never been told I have to have a pneumonia vaccination. I guess because GSK hasn’t given The Joint Commission money to shill for that one...yet.
“As far as flu death’s most influenza deaths are the result of secondary infections like pneumonia so I’m not sure what you are saying here.”
I am agreeing with you that pneumonia is the threat, not the flu, for most Americans—the State of Michigan now combines the flu and pneumonia in “cause of death” stats because it is difficult to determine the culprit in too many cases. I have never been told I have to have a pneumonia vaccination. I guess because GSK hasn’t given The Joint Commission money to shill for that one...yet.
“Pneumonia has bacterial, viral, fungal, and other primary causes. A summary is provided below.”
“Bacterial - Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia. People who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or alcoholism most often get pneumonia from Klebsiella pneumoniae and Hemophilus influenzae. Atypical pneumonia, a type of pneumonia that typically occurs during the summer and fall months, is caused by the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae. People who have Legionnaire's disease caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumoniae (often found in contaminated water supplies and air conditioners) may also develop pneumonia as part of the overall infection. Another type of bacteria responsible for pneumonia is called Chlamydia pneumoniae. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a form of pneumonia that usually affects both lungs and is found in patients with weakened or compromised immune systems from such conditions as cancer and HIV/AIDS and those treated with TNF (tumor necrosis factor) for rheumatoid arthritis. ”
“Viral - Viral pneumonias are pneumonias that do not typically respond to antibiotic treatment (in contrast to bacterial pneumonias). Adenoviruses, rhinovirus, influenza virus (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and parainfluenza virus are all potential causes of viral pneumonia. ”
“Fungal - Histoplasmosis, coccidiomycosis, blastomycosis, aspergillosis, and cryptococcosis are fungal infections that can lead to fungal pneumonia. These types of pneumonias are relatively infrequent in the United States. ”
“Nosocomial and others - Organisms that have been exposed to strong antibiotics and have developed resistance are called nosocomial organisms. If they enter the lungs, a person may develop nosocomial pneumonia. Resistant bacteria are often found in nursing homes and hospitals. An example is MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, which can cause skin infections as well as pneumonia. Similarly, outbreaks of the H5N1 influenza (bird flu) virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have resulted in serious pneumonia infections. Anthrax, plague, and tularemia also may cause pneumonia, but their occurrences are rare. ” http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151632.php
The reason you haven’t been asked to get a pneumonia vaccination is that you are probably are not in one of the high risk groups (see the section in the above link – “Who gets pneumonia”?) As I said earlier, if you are a healthy adult there is probably no good reason for you to get a pneumonia vaccination, but there are plenty of good reasons for you to get a flu vaccination and it’s not necessarily all about you.
While the flu may make you miserable for a week or more and make miss time from work, if you are a healthy adult and assuming you don’t catch a strain of flu like we saw in 1918 that mostly killed healthy and younger people, you will recover from the flu and absent an underlying medical condition or being not in poor general health due to your own neglect or from not taking care of yourself if you do contract the flu, you are not likely to get pneumonia or to die from it with proper medical attention; you may however still get secondary bronchitis – which while not typically fatal, is no picnic. But if you are not vaccinated and contract the flu, you put other people, those in those high risk groups in greater jeopardy of contracting it. A flu shot is a lot cheaper for you and your employer in missed productivity and paid sick time and in the treatment of secondary infections even if not life threatening.
Most people don’t catch viral pneumonia directly; they contract viral pneumonia as the result of a primary viral infection like the flu, pneumonia being the secondary infection.
I guess because GSK hasn’t given The Joint Commission money to shill for that one...yet.
I’m sure there is a lot of money to be made from selling pneumonia vaccinations to people who don’t need them, but yet as you said “I have never been told I have to have a pneumonia vaccination”.
Do you agree that I should have been allowed to wear a mask while at work?
Again, I can’t answer that question; you should ask your employer. But I would ask you to consider this: If you refused to get a flu vaccination and come to work after contracting the flu, do you expect your employer to monitor whether or not you are wearing your mask at all times – from the time you enter the building to the time you leave and monitor whether or not you thoroughly washed your hands before entering the building? Do you expect your employer to ensure that if you cough or sneeze, that 1) the mask you choose to wear is effective in stopping you from spreading the airborne virus and 2) that during an 8 hour day of coughing and sneezing into that mask, that you never take it off?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126082530.htm
This article does state that wearing surgical masks is effective in reducing the transmission of a flu but it should be noted that it is more to prevent the wearer from contracting the virus than is it from the wearer if already sick from spreading it to non mask wearers. And in this scenario, it is also presumed that in a pandemic flu outbreak where vaccines may be in short supply especially for health care workers that the wearing of masks can be a good first line defense to prevent health care workers from becoming sick and the study also states that there is a real problem with them being worn properly and consistently.
Do you agree that I should have been allowed to wear a mask while at work?
If your employer made getting a flu shot a condition of continued employment and you do not have a legitimate and documented medical reason for not getting it (a documented allergy for instance) or a religious objection and that requirement doesn’t violate federal or state laws, then no. If you don’t like it you should find another job.
Wow, you really are hard core. If only hospitals were so vigilant beyond worrying about the flu. Lots of lives would be saved for sure. Nothing you have written convinces me that I should be mandated to do anything. If the facts were compelling, I would do it voluntarily. Because I am not afforded that respect, I am highly suspicious of motives. Nothing you have written allays my fears. People come to work sick as dogs with other diseases and pestilence and because hospitals are so short staffed, no one gets sent home. They get written up for taking unscheduled time off even though they are entitled to sick days. So, forgive me if I don’t buy this as protecting patients.
I don’t know if you still live in this country (Expat?), but you sound like you would be just fine with all employers of America mandating this shot for this disease and that shot for that disease as a condition of employment because this is exactly where it is leading.
No, I don’t like this at all and as soon as I can leave I will. We all got a long just fine before the Tyrrants took over.
Bless you!
Cheers!
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