Drudge: Killer flu 'on the way'

Drudge Report ^ | Nov 2, 2002 | BBC

[demosthenes the elder]

I have never had a flu shot, but I tend to contract viral influenza every two or three years. One such bout nearly killed me when I was fifteen. My last bout was two years ago, and it was just plain awful. I think I will actually get a flu shot this year.

just general FYI:
The flu is a viral infection concentrated in the lower respiratory system. Direct symptoms can include throat irritation, bronchial irritation, nasal congestion, nausea, fever. Fever can cause a host of other symptoms on a more general basis, including delusion, disorientation, hallucination, pain, cramping, etc. Mucous overload/drainage can lead to gastrointestinal irregularities such as nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea, gas.
Flu infection is very stressful on the metabolism, can weaken the patient, open the door to opportunistic pathogens both bacterial and viral. Prime opportunist: Bacterial Pneumonia.
Flu immunization depends on injecting the patient with sufficient current viral protein-coats that their immune system develops keyed antibodies which recognize and specifically attack live-virus infections which have the same or very similar protein signature.
Antibiotics are useless in treating a viral infection. They should be avoided unless there is either a known secondary/opportunistic bacterial infection or if there is high risk for the same.
The most dangerous symptoms of viral influenza infection are lethal fever and dehydration. Supportive therapy involves temperature regulation and fluid intake. Sustained fevers above 104 degrees fahrenheit are quite dangerous in adults, and if occur should prompt emergency medical assistance. Failure (due to nausea and/or weakness/lethargy) to ingest a minimum of 8 fluid ounces of water during waking hours for anything longer than 4 hours is dangerous. More than one full day without significant fluid intake/retention should prompt emergency medical treatment (usually IV and observation).

[goodnesswins]

Do you know if it is true that if you do get a flu shot, and get the flu, you might get LESS sick?

[mac_truck]

The Telegraph is one of the most credible papers in the world...

LOL!

[Mark Felton]

You LOL! at my statement "The Telegraph is one of the most credible papers in the world...

Do you disagree? If so, explain yourself.

[El Sordo]

"One can be an expert in medicine without being an expert in medical history. "

Quite true! I'll file his perspective under "So I heard.."

I do hope that such epidemics are a thing of the past. I know that this may not be an entirely rational desire. Regardless, modern medicine is a glorious thing.

[bioprof]

Do you know if it is true that if you do get a flu shot, and get the flu, you might get LESS sick?

Sorry to take so long to reply ( I've been out placing door hangers all day )....To answer your question :

You'd get less sick after getting the flu shot only of you contacted a less virulent flu virus ( and it would be one of the strains that you're not immunized against ). If you contact one of the strains that's in the vaccine, you probably wouldn't get the flu at all ( caused by that particular atrain). Although, remember that it takes time for immunity to build - so - if you get the vaccine - and your body is in the process of producing antibodies ( but hasn't finished the job yet ) you may get less severe symptoms due to partial immunity.

Bottom line: the symptoms of influenza, regardless of which strain, are almost indistinguishable. So it's next to impossible to tell what strain is making a person sick unless a lab analysis is done ( which is not a routine part of your examination)....these analyses are done for epidemiological purposes - not therapeutic purposes.

The best thing you can do if you get sick is drink plenty of fluids, monitor your temperature, and rest ( yes, our mothers were right! ). Get to the doctor right away if your cough is really bad and it's combined with a high ( above 102 ) temp....these are symptoms of bacterial infection & antibiotics will help. Antibiotics do NOTHING for influenza and shouldn't be taken unless a secondary infection develops.

[Ditter]

Flu shots don't hurt.

[goodnesswins]

THANK YOU.....

[discostu]

Somebody is sticking sharp metal into your skin and injecting unknown substances... of course it hurts!

But seriously it's a phobia, phobia's (much like liberals) don't respond to logic or reason. When I got my MMR booster I was such a wreck the nurse walked out with me to meet my wife and make sure I wasn't driving home, the alternative was that she throw me in the hospital overnight. I had a lot of work done on my teeth at one point and was almost over it, but the last work done was on my back teeth, I could actually hear the needle going in... fear came streaming back with a vengance.

Luckily I'm a generally healthy person and don't really need to conquer the fear. One of these days I'll get old and sickly and the time will come, until then I'm doing fine without shots.

[Ditter]

LOL I figured that you had gotten a penicillin shot at some point because they DO hurt. Like someone hitting you with a baseball bat. I used to feel like you do but after taking 5 weekly allergy shots for 15 years I got over it. Any little bitty twinge that you might feel with a flu shot is nothing compared to being down with chills & fever & muscle aches for a week or more. The flu can hit you hard. Obviously you have never had it hit you like that. I don't know if it is physical condition, general health or the flu strain you get that makes the difference. Once when my husband was in his 30's strong & health, he had the flu that laid him low for 6 weeks. Call me if that happens & I'll come over & bring you some soup & tell you "I told you so". lol Would a freeper friend lie to you? Go get your flu shot.

[discostu]

Hey you're good. It probably was penicillin shots (and lots of them, I wasn't always hail and hearty, I was actually a very sickly kid with chronic-bronchitis) that did it to me... and the oral stuff that gave me my fondness for strawberry milk (since it kind of looks like strawberry milk, and always made me feel better, the human mind is very strange). Plus my Pede was just horrid with needles, every shot I ever got from her left viscious bruises. She was a nice doctor, and a nice lady, but she really should have had a nurse do all the shooting.

No flu shots for me, not until my immune system has proven it needs the crutch. I'm sure that day will come eventually... of course living in warm dry Tucson (for that bronchitis, just like in the old days) that day is a little further off for me than most, then I'll start getting the shots. Until then I'll just get queasy at the very subject and listen to Niel Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done" when my place of work has the flu shot people over.

[Ditter]

I was the same kind of kid. Asthma, bronchitis allergies, etc. I became allergic to penicillin after a few shots but I still remember how they hurt.

[discostu]

Being a sickly kid is one of the worst things in the world, I wouldn't wish it on a Clinton. Luckily once I got out of Chicago's cold and damp and had a season to dry out my lungs in Tucson the immune system that managed to keep me alive through all those bronchitis attacks got a chance to shine and make me a very healthy person inspite of my unhealthy habbits. But still, the memories of life before age 7 are pretty much limited to antiseptic rooms and pain, no way to go through the formative years.

[HamiltonJay]

While a deadly "outbreak" is always possible, the technologies of today and understanding of viral and bacterial infections is far greater than it was in 1968. I don't want to call this a chicken little, but just because there hasn't been a bad outbreak in 34 years, doesn't mean we are going to have one "soon". I will say this much, I am glad I am in the US, if a pandemic new virus did attack europe, their response to it would definately be slower than the US, IMHO.

[Ditter]

No question about it feeling bad & not being to play like a normal kid hurts. I didn't need a cross country move to get healthy. My asthma left when I moved out of my parents cigarette smoke filled home. The smokers here at FR don't like to hear that, but its true. I got married & the improvement in my breathing was dramatic & it wasn't being happily married that did it. The only time asthma bothers me now is if I can't escape the cigarette smoke.

[discostu]

We moved under orders from my pede. Each winter was bringing more bronchitis attacks and they were kicking me harder and sticking around longer. The doctor said "get this kid out of this climate or he will die, maybe next winter, definitely the one after". As it turned out the guy my grandfather worked for had just moved down here for his health and invited us all down offering to pull strings and make sure everybody had a job that needed one. So off we went. I really missed Chicago for a long time, but recently I had to spend a couple weeks in Seattle and Portland, and the gook settled in real quick. I don't miss that.

Air particulates, regardless of the source, are bad for asthma, no way around that. But the smoker/ non-smoker battles have gotten too brutal the last couple of decades, too many whiners on both sides.