http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-first-death-of-flu-season-20151104-story.html
it still is not to late to get the vaccine !!
maybe a few naysayers will become enlightened?
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/11/27/55909/many-americans-believe-they-don-t-need-flu-vaccine/
Ha Ha. One in seven of the respondents who weren’t getting immunized said the shots can give you the flu.
justonedad I bet it is more like 75%. I hear that all the time.
Even some nurses will insist that they got the flu from the shot, which uses a “killed” virus. I’m like, “Ummm, did you sleep through microbiology/virology class?”
nrdsb4
the other one I hear is that a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a humans . that is a myth too. they tend to have different standard set of bacteria. (many that do not harm humans)
There needs to be a special sort of eye rolling for this non-scientific nonsense!
Musings from my years in healthcare…
-usually after one round of the “Real deal” flu, the no vaxers will be the first ones to line up for the flu vaccine the next year. Most of the people who refuse flu vaccines have had a severe cold, but have never truly had the flu and don’t understand how sick you can get.
-I always scratch my head at those who refuse the vaccine but then are the first ones to demand an antibiotic (umm, no, it’s a VIRUS!) or Tamiflu. I won’t pull up the heavy data and research, but anecdotally more people report side effects from Tamiflu than from the vaccine itself.
I had the “real deal” flu just once when back when we were first married. It was horrible. I missed almost 2 weeks of work, lost 10 pounds and it took weeks to return to my normal activity level. I did not get the flu shot that year because I was too busy. I’ve had a flu shot every year since and despite actively being trapped in exam rooms with Flu + patients, I have never caught the flu thank goodness. Last year made me nervous since the vaccine was not a great match but I was able to continue my streak.
carachel2…I had the flu one time and holy moly (rated g version of what i want to say) I have never missed a flu shot again! I was never anti vaccine just thought it was for old people. it is funny how people use the term flu for a cold.
@zobroward yes!! People use the term flu for both a bad cold and also around here tend to use it for gastroenteritis as well! It kind of makes me crazy.
@carachel2 - I got a really bad flu a few years back and was prescribed tamiflu. I then got a REALLY bad case of vertigo. I noticed a couple of years later they started listing vertigo as a side affect in the ads (not sure they do any more). A flu shot is preferable to either!
I need to start a new thread on shingles shots.
it is still not to late for the flu shot!
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/26/health/holiday-flu-prayers/
Nice that the vaccine matched the flu strain well, so hopefully folks will get some protection. It’s also good that it appears treatments are effective.
There has been very little in the news about the flu this year. I know the vaccine was a good match this year, but perhaps the mild winter most of us have had helped too.