Brilliant observations on the flu

[redheadbaker]

From my new BMB.

community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/72564199.aspx

my thoughts on Flu Hysteria-- what the hell are you all so scared of?

1) unless you are extremely old, extremely young and/or have a weakened immune system due to some other issue-- you won't die from the flu

2) i had it once in my life, it sucked. i was laid out for 5 days, but, i survived, wasn't hospitalized, and caught up on a lot of trash tv. 

3) the shot does NOT protect you from every single strain, nor is it a guarantee to not get it.

4)  i honestly have a MUCH BIGGER fear of getting a freaking stomach virus than the flu.   now THAT sucks.   i can also think of about 10 other things i would be much muchhhhhhhhhhhh more freaked out about having than the flu. 

5) of course dr's are going to tell you to get it, that's what dr's do.  i still make my own decisions and declined, both for myself and my son (Gasp!)   so far, we are all still alive and kicking! 

[meshaliuknits]

Getting the flu shot isn't going to kill you either. In fact, it'll keep you healthy.

[pixy0stix]

1) Or, y'know, pregnant.

2) Or, y'know, you have to work and miss 5 days of work, or have other kids you have to take care of. Plus the 3 months of recovery from the hamthrax also sucked ass.

3) Duh.

4) I'd rather get the stomach virus, quite frankly.

5) It's really too bad she's already contributed to the gene pool once.

[Deleted]

I had a flu shot and that was fine--60% chance of not getting it seems worth the trouble.

I had flu twice that was fine, nbd. Once where I thought I was going to die. I hope never again.

[emisi]

Um, you could, in fact, die from the flu. See: the Spanish influenza. You could contract pneumonia and die. People are really way too blase about what the flu can do to you nowadays.

[Deleted]

I can a,so think of ten things that freak me out more than the flu. Cancer, being one, but wtf does that have to do with not getting the flu shot? Am I only allowed to try to prevent the ten most scary things?

I wasn't THAT freaked out about scraping my knees while rollerblading as a child, but I still wore the damn knee guards.

[caden]

A mom in my local twin club recently lost her oldest son (15yo) to pneumonia, which he got after having the flu. So she can fuck right off saying no one dies from it except babies and oldz.

[redheadbaker]

Mar 8, 2013 22:40:20 GMT -5 caden said:

A mom in my local twin club recently lost her oldest son (15yo) to pneumonia, which he got after having the flu. So she can fuck right off saying no one dies from it except babies and oldz.

Apparently, the morAn still considers teens children. TTT posted two stories of healthy high schoolers dying from the flu, but those didn't "count" as adults. 

[caden]

Oh. well ok then. *facepalm*
If this chick acknowledges kids CAN die from the flu why not at least give her son the shot? I don't even know why I'm asking this.

[ttt]

Mar 8, 2013 22:50:57 GMT -5 caden said:

Oh. well ok then. *facepalm*
If this chick acknowledges kids CAN die from the flu why not at least give her son the shot? I don't even know why I'm asking this.

Because it's rare. So therefore, not a problem. Or something.

[ttt]

LOL she DD'd.

[Deleted]

Flu is much more dangerous in the USA. And the flu shot is much more essential too. Coincidentally, the USA has a for profit healthcare system.

Im not saying flu isn't dangerous. Its just a thing I noticed. Other first world / government healthcare countries don't have the relentless "Flu! We're all gonna die! Get a flu shot or we are all gonna die! Get a flu shot or you are a terrible person!" thing going on. And these same countries don't have huge portions of the population dying from flu.

Of course, some people do die from it - but that still happens in the USA, despite the flu shot, right?

So yeah. Its not a scam, but its kinda scammy lol.

[foundmylazybum]

Mar 8, 2013 21:55:32 GMT -5 @irishbride said:

I can a,so think of ten things that freak me out more than the flu. Cancer, being one, but wtf does that have to do with not getting the flu shot? Am I only allowed to try to prevent the ten most scary things?

Yes...AND

[karinothing]

I guess I should tell my friend that since she was 26 year old and healthy that she should be alive right now.

[caden]

Mar 9, 2013 5:14:35 GMT -5 @reeve said:

So yeah. Its not a scam, but its kinda scammy lol.

it's kinda scammy to say getting the flu sucks and in some cases is very dangerous, so get a shot and minimize your risk? I don't think many people are hysterical about the risk of dying from the flu. Maybe it seems like it on the board bc we're all fed up with anti-vaxers and there is a lot of hate for the flu shot in particular. I don't know what our health system has to do wih this. BigPharma, isn't making a killing on the flu shot and I'm pretty sure our flu shot is made mostly by global companies.

[mcgee]

Mar 9, 2013 8:16:12 GMT -5 incogneato said:

I think it's like 30,000-60,000 a year. Yeah , that's a small fraction but 60,000 people dying isn't nothing. And if its your child or baby, it's a big deal. I'm glad there's "hysteria" if it gets people to get a nearly harmless shot that decreases the chances of newborn dying (or my husbsnd who had chemo a few months ago, or me while pg, or my toddler.. the whole family is high risk) Bring in the fear mongering!

No, it is NOT. The CDC 'estimates' number of deaths by counting anything that MIGHT be associated with influenza, diagnosed or otherwise to get their yearly estimate.

"CDC states that the historic 1968-9 "Hong Kong flu" pandemic killed 34000 Americans.

At the same time, CDC claims 36 000 Americans annually die from flu.

What is going on?



Meanwhile, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS),

"influenza and pneumonia" took 62 034 lives in 2001—61 777 of which were

attributed to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was flu virus positively

identified. Between 1979 and 2002, NCHS data show an average 1348 flu deaths per

year (range 257 to 3006)."

That is from www.bmj.com/content/331/7529/1412, "Are US Flu Death Figures More PR than Science?"

There are multiple other sources I can quote that also demonstrate that the CDC vastly overestimates the number of flu deaths per year by counting anything and everything they can.

[ringstrue]

I love how people think they are experts on their own immune system as well as every single person they come into contact with. How do you know what severe illness you can really take or not? And what does "take" mean? DH was out of work for 2+ months when he got sick. Thank god he had STD to cover his $$. "healthy" people still routinely go to the hospital for the flu. You could easily lose your job if you are out long enough. Or your spouse might when they have to watch the kids when you are inable. Then, what? Have to eventually foreclose on your house? Have to move out of state? Oh but you didn't die, yay!!!

Idk I'd rather just get a shot.

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2013 7:55:15 GMT -5 caden said:

Mar 9, 2013 5:14:35 GMT -5 @reeve said:

So yeah. Its not a scam, but its kinda scammy lol.

it's kinda scammy to say getting the flu sucks and in some cases is very dangerous, so get a shot and minimize your risk? I don't think many people are hysterical about the risk of dying from the flu. Maybe it seems like it on the board bc we're all fed up with anti-vaxers and there is a lot of hate for the flu shot in particular. I don't know what our health system has to do wih this. BigPharma, isn't making a killing on the flu shot and I'm pretty sure our flu shot is made mostly by global companies.

Perhaps it just looks that way to me as a foreigner in a strange country plus this board.


I mean, I don't think I ever saw an advert for the flu vaccination in the UK, whereas you cant pass a pharmacy without seeing a billboard or whatever urging everyone to get it.
And I have a healthy skepticism / unhealthy paranoia about most of what I hear with the USA and health stuff. I mean, the USA is all ADHD, whereas the UK is like "oh, that not a disease, its childhood". Or the US is all "circumcision prevents sexual disease" which I had never heard until I got here, or the desire to do C sections at the drop of a hat, or surgery as a usual step if you are overwieght...the list goes on. I dont doubt that anything I listed there is sometimes needed, flu shot as well. It just seems to me that the need is...exaggerated...in the USA. So my conclusion is that it is because it is a for profit system.

I will add that I have the same skepticism in reverse in the UK, because I think they do the minimum they can lol. 

[Deleted]

Reeve, think they advertise less over there because its simply dolled out. The nurses at our school in London simply gave the kids the flu vax at school. Heck, they gave the kids the HPV vax, too. We had a day that each grade had to see the nurse and get the shot. I think parents could opt out, but I don't remember it even being an issue over there.

[AJL]

I've gotten the flu shot every year since I was 17. I have not gotten the flu in 18 years. I'm a flu shot believer. For most people, it doesn't hurt to have that extra level of protection.

If you want to load up on vitamin D or bone broth or take apple cider vinegar or whatever to keep yourself from getting the flu, be my guest. I'll just take the 2 minutes out of my day to get the shot and be on my way. TYVM.

[frlcb]

Mar 9, 2013 13:38:50 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Mar 9, 2013 7:55:15 GMT -5 caden said:

it's kinda scammy to say getting the flu sucks and in some cases is very dangerous, so get a shot and minimize your risk? I don't think many people are hysterical about the risk of dying from the flu. Maybe it seems like it on the board bc we're all fed up with anti-vaxers and there is a lot of hate for the flu shot in particular. I don't know what our health system has to do wih this. BigPharma, isn't making a killing on the flu shot and I'm pretty sure our flu shot is made mostly by global companies.

Perhaps it just looks that way to me as a foreigner in a strange country plus this board.


I mean, I don't think I ever saw an advert for the flu vaccination in the UK, whereas you cant pass a pharmacy without seeing a billboard or whatever urging everyone to get it.
And I have a healthy skepticism / unhealthy paranoia about most of what I hear with the USA and health stuff. I mean, the USA is all ADHD, whereas the UK is like "oh, that not a disease, its childhood". Or the US is all "circumcision prevents sexual disease" which I had never heard until I got here, or the desire to do C sections at the drop of a hat, or surgery as a usual step if you are overwieght...the list goes on. I dont doubt that anything I listed there is sometimes needed, flu shot as well. It just seems to me that the need is...exaggerated...in the USA. So my conclusion is that it is because it is a for profit system.

I will add that I have the same skepticism in reverse in the UK, because I think they do the minimum they can lol. 

I am currently in the UK and have seen several signs suggesting people get flu jabs, as well as other childhood vaccines. The problem is it is difficult to get the flu shot here unless you are older, pregnant or a child, which, like you said, is because they do the minimum here with the NHS. I have stories about the vast differences between the kind of care I got during my pregnancy in London and my pregnancy in the US, and a time I was laughed at by my midwives for being 'so American' about my pregnancy.

[heyjude]

RHB?! Did I miss the announcement? Congrats to you!!! Will this be 2u2 for you?

[redheadbaker]

Mar 9, 2013 16:22:04 GMT -5 heyjude said:

RHB?! Did I miss the announcement? Congrats to you!!! Will this be 2u2 for you?

I snuck it into a Friday randoms post Thanks! Yes, I will have 2u2 for about a month, lol. Due 10/26.

[Deleted]

Mar 9, 2013 16:09:52 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Mar 9, 2013 13:38:50 GMT -5 @reeve said:

Perhaps it just looks that way to me as a foreigner in a strange country plus this board.


I mean, I don't think I ever saw an advert for the flu vaccination in the UK, whereas you cant pass a pharmacy without seeing a billboard or whatever urging everyone to get it.
And I have a healthy skepticism / unhealthy paranoia about most of what I hear with the USA and health stuff. I mean, the USA is all ADHD, whereas the UK is like "oh, that not a disease, its childhood". Or the US is all "circumcision prevents sexual disease" which I had never heard until I got here, or the desire to do C sections at the drop of a hat, or surgery as a usual step if you are overwieght...the list goes on. I dont doubt that anything I listed there is sometimes needed, flu shot as well. It just seems to me that the need is...exaggerated...in the USA. So my conclusion is that it is because it is a for profit system.

I will add that I have the same skepticism in reverse in the UK, because I think they do the minimum they can lol. 

I am currently in the UK and have seen several signs suggesting people get flu jabs, as well as other childhood vaccines. The problem is it is difficult to get the flu shot here unless you are older, pregnant or a child, which, like you said, is because they do the minimum here with the NHS. I have stories about the vast differences between the kind of care I got during my pregnancy in London and my pregnancy in the US, and a time I was laughed at by my midwives for being 'so American' about my pregnancy.

Yeah, I think you can sum up the difference in the 2 countries quite simply - the US does too much because it makes money, the UK does too little because it saves money.

The problem is, neither gives you an accurate diagnosis which is what you need, and both systems result in mistrust.

Even so, I prefer the UK system for a simple reason. In the UK you can demand more service, or if thats not good enough, you can pay for it yourself by going private. In the US, the hospitals etc demand payment / insurance for the service, so you are out of pocket either way, PLUS if you cant afford it, you're fucked.

[RoxMonster]

I don't freak out about the flu and do get the flu shot every year without issues. But it can be dangerous even to people who aren't very old or very young. This past January, one of my HS teachers who was in her early 50s, no health problems, completely healthy, got the flu, which turned into pneumonia, and within a couple days killed her. It can get very nasty, and while I don't think people should be hysterical about the flu or paranoid about it, it is also something to not mess around with. Meaning if you have it, stay home. If you know someone who has it, don't hang out with them while they're ill or bring your kids around them, etc.