early adapter (flu)

[swoop]

as an early adapter of the 2007 winter flu... i'd like to recommend to all of you to not get it. the factory in china where they makes these things .. is getting really good at it.

i've never had a flu include so much physical pain. get the shots. avoid this one. its relentless and merciless and muscle attacking and a big ball of suck.

i can usually ride sick and now i can't even make myself roll down for a coffee. :crap:

adapter? adopter?.. i can never work it out.

[Bill Bove]

Got mine three weeks ago and am only now beginning to feel human again. This is a tough one, spent all of last Sunday in the fetal position alternating between shivering and sweating. Better to get it now and be done with it by the time the snowbirds bring all their northern germs down with them.

[swoop]

man.... this is insane. did you take anything?

[davids]

I got my shot 2 hours ago.

So sorry to hear the flu got you. Get well soon!

stevep asked me to give this to you:

http://www.magicballoons.co.nz/Balloons-to-go/images/02%20Get%20Well%20Soon%20with%20Feet.jpg

[deechee]

I would rather not put myself at higher risk with a flu shot, that won't necessarily protect me from a different virus during the same season. Most of you I'm assuming are healthy and active, balanced with good nutrition and plenty of sleep so why not believe in your body and washing your hands?

[swoop]

i wash em after every patient... its just sometimes that aint enough.
sometimes you just get slimed.

[Too Tall]

Yuck. I'll grab my mom's cane and head directly to the pharmacy. Yikes, thanks for the heads up.

[malcolm]

Deechee, true influenza is a miserable illness and while handwashing is a good measure it is also droplet/airborne transmitted. Most people think if they get a febrile illness in the winter it is flu and that just isn't the case. After having said that many people probably could get by with out it. If you choose that route tamiflu is very effective if taken in the first 24 hours, so I would have a good relationship with my doc. Whatever illness you get from the shot is mild compared to the real deal. The shot is also not 100% but is the epidemeologists best guess as to most prevalent strains. Good luck whichever path you choose.

[vaxn8r]

True influenza...you only need to get it once before you're lining up October 1st for a shot the next year. Good on ya in you never had it. Miserable illness which lays you completely out for 1-2 weeks.

I don't understand the logic of avoiding vaccines so you can get something naturally. I guess we've advanced so far in health advances people forget about polio, meningitis, whooping cough....those things really don't happen anymore do they?

ps. fluzone is an intranasal spray so no shot involved and it's actually more protective.

[deechee]

Yes, I have had the flu (knocked me out for a good two weeks and I still had the effects well into a month due to minor asthma) and yes I understand what a virus is.

I'm not a doctor but I've had several tell me not to bother with drugs/band-aids when I should be healthy enough to heal myself. (In other words I went in asking for some relief but got kicked out the door.) Most flu alerts specifically target the elderly or young children. Sometimes there are panics and not enough drugs to go around to those in need, why should someone in their 20's, healthy, active and not in any particular risk group take away from those more in need? As well, there have been some studies to indicate there is no solid proof of the effectiveness (http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061026/flushot_report_061026?s_name=&no_ads=) of the vaccine.

I like this quote I found from the doctor, Dr Jefferson:
"Vaccines are a business, like any other. The only difference is that governments are co-sponsors with industry,... Overestimation of the threat by the target diseases, suppression of data on possible adverse events, and exaggeration of effectiveness are frequent, as the case of influenza vaccines demonstrates. In the case of population vaccination programs, both government and industry have conflicts of interest. Beware."

and to wrap it,

“A person is smart. People are stupid.”
Agent J
This is not a life or death situation for many, in fact Jefferson even points out that the flu shot doesn't necessarily improve the "quality of life" that people desire by taking the vaccine. (ie. missing work/home time; this is how 'weak' we have become) This furthers my problem with people and their need for antibiotics over the simplest of problems. Don't get me wrong, even a skin rash can be incredibly humiliating as well discomforting yet people have lived past it. Some antibiotics are so incredibly strong that patients feel even worse than they did, stop taking them and prevent the effectiveness of the antibiotic, rendering it useless and possibly creating a larger problem.

I'll continue to get HepA/B shots, tetnus shots etc. but I'll take a pass on the flu shot unless its made extremely convenient for me (ie. they're being done very close) and as long as I'm in a low-risk group. My parents never had them when they were kids, in fact they lived in much worse conditions during the war for years; malnourished and in filth. I don't have much to complain about by being inconvenienced for a week or two.

Since I'm in a quoting mood, one last on by Chris Rock:

What's the last s**t a doctor cured? Polio.
You know how long ago polio was?

swoop, I didn't mean to say you don't wash your hands :P Sorry. I hope you get over it soon enough. Being sick sucks. Especially on a sunny weekend when we'd all rather be outside getting a good ride in before the snow starts covering the road.

[vaxn8r]

Sorry deechee, I can't help myself sometimes. Your points are valid.

btw, we didn't cure polio either. They don't vaccinate in several African countries and guess what? Worldwide erradciation was targeted for around 2000. That came and went.

Smallpox has been eliminated...except in test tubes.

[swoop]

at this point.. i just don't want to get anyone else sick. at what point am i not putting others at risk?

[93legendti]

The Flu can kill.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/

"The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.

The plague emerged in two phases. In late spring of 1918, the first phase, known as the "three-day fever," appeared without warning. Few deaths were reported. Victims recovered after a few days. When the disease surfaced again that fall, it was far more severe. Scientists, doctors, and health officials could not identify this disease which was striking so fast and so viciously, eluding treatment and defying control. Some victims died within hours of their first symptoms. Others succumbed after a few days; their lungs filled with fluid and they suffocated to death.

The plague did not discriminate. It was rampant in urban and rural areas, from the densely populated East coast to the remotest parts of Alaska. Young adults, usually unaffected by these types of infectious diseases, were among the hardest hit groups along with the elderly and young children. The flu afflicted over 25 percent of the U.S. population. In one year, the average life expectancy in the United States dropped by 12 years.

It is an oddity of history that the influenza epidemic of 1918 has been overlooked in the teaching of American history. Documentation of the disease is ample, as shown in the records selected from the holdings of the National Archives regional archives. Exhibiting these documents helps the epidemic take its rightful place as a major disaster in world history."

Deech, you sound convincing that the flu shot is not a good idea and then you say: "...but I'll take a pass on the flu shot unless its made extremely convenient for me..."

I think vaccines did a pretty good job on TB, diphtheria, measles, meningitis and cholera. Probably a few more.

[Tom]

I dropped the extra 15 pounds I was carrying, no doubt a lot of it water, in 5 days. Then I thought I got better, and was really really really hungry. Having no food in the fridge I called out for pizza. When it came I ate it in about five minutes.

A terrible idea. My stomach rebelled quickly and violently. It actually hurt on the way back out.

Too much information, yes, but ten minutes later I thought it was the funniest thing that had happened in at least a month. And I called out for a second pizza but ate that one a lot slower.

[Dekonick]

:crap: i wash em after every patient... its just sometimes that aint enough.
sometimes you just get slimed.

Aye - get the shot.

If you don't like shots, get flumist.

get ready folks... h5n1, h5n2....

[jmewkill]

as an early adapter of the 2007 winter flu... i'd like to recommend to all of you to not get it. the factory in china where they makes these things .. is getting really good at it.

i've never had a flu include so much physical pain. get the shots. avoid this one. its relentless and merciless and muscle attacking and a big ball of suck.

i can usually ride sick and now i can't even make myself roll down for a coffee. :crap:

adapter? adopter?.. i can never work it out.

Even if you're not racing you're still f**king competitive.

I'll be the last guy to get it, when everyone else is tired of hearing about it.

[jerk]

i've never had a flu include so much physical pain. get the shots. avoid this one. its relentless and merciless and muscle attacking and a big ball of suck.

i can usually ride sick and now i can't even make myself roll down for a coffee. :crap:

.

pussy. try watching a five hour oprah relay dubbed into bahasa indonesia while in the depths of dengue fever.

jerk

[swoop]

i've seen more judge judy and tyra banks than any man should. in fact.. ponder this with me.. who would you do.... current star wars bar scene tyra or judge judy?

[jerk]

i've seen more judge judy and tyra banks than any man should. in fact.. ponder this with me.. who would you do.... current star wars bar scene tyra or judge judy?


do we have to talk or just make out?

jerk

[Barry White]

Flu sucks, baby.