Symptoms of deadly flu strain spreading across US tend to 'escalate rapidly,' doctor says

Fox News ^ | 1/25/18 | Melanie Dadourian

[Sopater]

It started with a cold, and then it turned deadly.

The grieving family of Dylan Winnik of West Palm Beach, Fla. is in shock after their 12-year old son died Tuesday from complications related to the flu.

Dylan’s family said cold symptoms developed just a day after the seventh-grader was playing at a birthday party on Sunday, according to a report from Local10 News. By Tuesday, his condition worsened and a neighbor called 911. When sheriff's deputies arrived at the home, Dylan already had died.

Family member Mike Medwi told the Palm Beach Post that the boy had not gotten a flu shot.

[laplata]

Thank you and be well.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I thought it was so obvious that I wouldn’t need a sarcasm tag. Silly me.

[trebb]

Yaeh - I’m on the MS Gulf Coast and the casinos draw a lot of folks from areas to ensure we get a lot of “diversity” in the bugs available.

[Justa]

“I do not allow anyone with any cough/sneeze on my jobsite-I expect everyone to have hand sanitizer in their truck and use it.”

That right there probably explains why it works. At my work they can’t force people to take a sick day. The supervisor was railing last week about anyone being sick needing to stay home. “I”m not fkn playing around!” Well, the next day someone came in sick. Three days later the supervisor was out sick and was out this week. He’d call his 2nd supervisor on the speaker phone and rail against the worker who spread the sickness. The culprit is an older gentleman who is in his 5th year of Leukemia recovery so no one’s gonna go hard on him on getting sick because it could be a sign of relapse. This is the big year for him. After this he’s free and clear of relapse.

[so_real]

Avoiding contact is an excellent strategy.

I agree. Avoiding contact is an excellent strategy. Avoiding the flu shot, the places where it is administered, and the people who recently accepted one helps too. My niece's children received flu shots in Minnesota just a week and a half ago -- a "double shot" I'm told, to cover additional strains. Like clockwork, three days later, one was hospitalized for influenza. Influenza is a nuisance. Pneumonia is a killer. Most folks don't understand that because the marketing rolls them together to sell more shots. But for the vast majority of healthy people, influenza is a few day's nuisance. Keep your throat coated with honey and lemon and the probability of a pneumonial infection declines considerably. (But if you suspect pneumonia, get to a doctor.) My heart goes out to this boy's family. I hope they aren't beating themselves up about a flu shot. After all, a flu shot didn't save Chad Rattray (and others). And, according to the Australian efficacy reporting, there is a 90% probability the flu shot would not have helped this boy either. It's ugly that folks will use his death to sell more shots.

Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations: Should Their Views be Silenced?

[Neoliberalnot]

The Luddites have been replaced with the 3rd worlders thinking on vaccines. The fee associated with moving a product is your real beef. Welfare is not free in case you haven’t figured it out.

[so_real]

In the sense that people still die, the flu shot is 90% ineffective, influenza is not the killer pneumonia is, vaccinations pose additional health risks, I have family hospitalized from flu shots ... and my tax dollars pay for it ... sure, I have a beef with the fee. But if that is all you got out of my post, and you think the fee is my "real beef", then please do not ever presume to put words in my mouth because you clearly do not have a clue.

[Texan5]

Good for your supervisor-but someone who is in recovery/remission from leukemia-or any other cancer-is at an increased risk of catching something because of a diminished immune system. My former employer and best friend lost his life from the effects of chemotherapy for a brain tumor just over 2 years ago, so I certainly have empathy for your coworker-but there is still no excuse to expose and sicken other people, ever-it is inconsiderate.

[Neoliberalnot]

I know of no one that got the flu from the shot. Utter nonsense and bilge. It is not a live virulent virus vaccine. Flu generates a cytokine storm and if you are talking about bacterial pneumonia, viral infections are often primary and bacterial pneumonias secondary. And influenza does kill people, it is a respiratory virus. Your nonsense is where quacks arise. Stop pretending to be an expert in a field for which you are imminently unqualified just because you have personal family members that get sick. I don’t care if you don’t get a flu shot but your spouting of nonsense and trying to influence others by pretending to know something of virology and immunology is fraudulent.

[FreedomForce]

The preliminary estimate of 10% effectiveness has been updated to 30-40% effectiveness. In addition, doctors are reporting that flu is generally less severe in people who have had the vaccine in comparison with people who haven’t.

It takes two weeks for the flu shot to reach full effect. Getting the flu immediately after getting the shot doesn’t mean the shot caused the flu.

[so_real]

I pointed you to the stats. You know how few people influenza kills and you know how many people pneumonia kills. My only influence over others is to point them to the statistics, the articles, the periodicals, the books, and studies ... some of the same things I've pointed you too. If you can't handle that, bugger off. Others here are far more capable of reading and making up their own mind than you. But feel free to keep "spouting" your media talking points. Your nonsense is where fears of big pharma arise. But it doesn't bother me. Feel free to continue.

[so_real]

It *might* be a coincidence that the child caught the flu three days after the shot ... but it's a pretty big coincidence that the incubation period for flu to present after exposure is three to four days. It *might* have been the shot, or exposure to someone who had the shot a week or two earlier, or exposure to someone who came in for the shot already sick. Who can say?

[stig]

The flu shot is barely effective this year and the same last year.

That is true for the egg based flu shot the one that everyone gets. But I believe the flublok vaccine which is a recombinant vaccine has better coverage for this strain of flu. If you haven't gotten the flu yet this season and you know a few people who have had it you may want to consider getting the newer vaccine. It contains a version of the H3N2 virus (The kind that they claim is currently causing all the problems). This particular strain can not be covered by the egg based vaccine (ever, it has to do with the egg based process).

[Neoliberalnot]

Yeah, right. On December 9, 2016, CDC posted estimates of seasonal flu deaths from more recent seasons in the United States. CDC estimates that from 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, influenza-associated deaths in the United States ranged from a low of 12,000 (during 2011-2012) to a high of 56,000 (during 2012-2013.

[so_real]

More accurately ...

In 2010, the CDC estimated 49,597 people died of pneumonia and 274 people died of influenza for a total of 49,871.

In 2011, the CDC estimated 52,294 people died of pneumonia and 1,315 people died of influenza for a total of 53,609.

In 2012, the CDC estimated 49,530 people died of pneumonia and 1,093 people died of influenza for a total of 50,623.

In 2013, the CDC estimated 53,282 people died of pneumonia and 3,550 people died of influenza for a total of 56,832.

American Lung Association - Trends in Pneumonia and Influenza Morbidity and Mortality

[boxlunch]

Sounds like a nice place to live ( your town)

[Texan5]

It is a great area, if you go galt-there is no town, though-just a loose community of small to large acreage lots in a remote area with tiny businesses interspersed that covers a few miles in any direction.

[Neoliberalnot]

I know people die of pneumonia. Flu too is a respiratory disease and is often a precursor to a secondary bacterial infection. HIV is also a primary viral disease that leads to secondary bacterial infections. The lung association is not a public health monitoring network like the CDC, but I suspect they use data collected by the CDC.

Are you also opposed to vaccination for avian flu, swine flu, and canine flu?

[corlorde]

And the unwritten rule at my home is, if you are sick, please do not visit. And If I get sick, I promise not to show up at their home, either.

[so_real]

You don't need to "suspect" that the ALA uses the statistics from the CDC. You can know it. All you have to do is read the report. Under each chart and graph they publish the source (ala. "Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"). You are not reading and that is why you are not knowing.

Yes, influenza is a precursor to secondary bacterial infection. And you are correct, HIV is also a precursor condition. So is rhinovirus, COPD, lymphoma, asthma, heart disease, luekemia, Hodgkin's, etc, etc. Even therapies like steroidal, radiation, and chemo are precursor conditions, as is simply being 65 or older. Any condition that weakens the immune system is a precursor to pneumococcal disease. Many people get pneumonia, and many people die from it. It is a killer.

Yet you are happy to drink the media kool-aid, lump all the pneumonia deaths together regardless of precursor, call it "flu statistics", and pimp big-pharma's 10% effective flu shot, as if the flu shot actually accomplishes much of anything. Shall I find you the statistics on the death rates for years when flu vaccines were unavailable for the active strain? I shouldn't bother; you won't read it. So I'll just tell you, there is no significant change in pneumonia death rates when flu shots are not taken, or the wrong flu shot is administered. Why? Because influenza is a minor precursor and people still get pneumonia and die.

Why aren't you advocating the PCV13 or PPSV23 pneumococcal conjugate vaccines? Then at least your brazen attitude would have merit. Why do you double-down on vaccinating against a minor precursor instead of the actual killing organisms? For the vast majority, influenza is an awful nuisance spanning a few days. Yet you erroneously think tens of thousands of lives can be saved by demanding we accept the shot you think we should have. You have been brainwashed, and are insulting toward those who do the reading and are in the knowing.

But I've no interest in stifling your freedom of speech. It makes for good debate. And I will continue to speak myself as the opposition in the debate, and provide information to those willing to do the reading. And I am far from alone in that :

Don't Believe Everything You Read About Flu Deaths
Huffington Post, Canada

If you are willing to read anything, read that.