Swine Flu

[grumbler]

Incidentally, the shot's only 68% effective. Have fun everyone. 

Another reminder that 84.2% of all statistics one encounters in online discussions are made up on the spot.   

[Maximus]

Of course Jake won't be getting it tomorrow as planned anyway, since he has a fever today. Not really sure it is the flu though - he has a fever and cough, but no aches, no headache, no nausea. So far, anyway.

He is enjoying the four day weekend, actually.

FWIW,  the worst I got was a headache, cough and scratchy throat. Not even a noticeable fever. I don't know that I've had H1N1 but I've spent the last 2 months living with and spending my days in classrooms full of people who've had it.

[saskganesh]

some local clinics will not necessarily be open on Monday, citing shortages of vaccines. could be at least a week or TWO.

of the two clinics open this week, one closed early today because of the sheer numbers. if you were in line then, you were ok for the shot.

there is eventually supposed to 12  clinics eventually. but vaccines are only for priority groups at the moment.

[Drakken]

Drakken, seriously, how much are they paying you?

/Sarcasm on

They pay me in kind - casting couches with sexy chicks who have been throughly tested for any STD - and influensa too - for me to "audition" for future movies. Because, as we know, the adult industry is a lucrative market for Big Pharma to peddle their wares, so they have their entries.

/Sarcasm off

Seriously, though, because I present credible scientific evidence that the vaccine works and I dont drink the anti-vaccine kool-aid, that means I am part of "The Conspiracy(TM)". Typical conspiracy-nut paranoia. 

[Barrister]

*sigh*

My wife is freaking out over H1N1.

I went to get the shot on Monday, the first day it was available.  I asked her if she wanted to come, but she said she'd get the shot at work on Thursday (she works at a jail).

So yesterday I asked her, and they don't have the different shot for pregnant women.  But she didn't seem all that concerned about it, so I bit my tongue.

And now today she goes into work and they have several confirmed H1N1 cases in the jail.  She's now freaking out (understandably though) and worried about whether it's even safe to be in the same building.

[Barrister]

hmm... turns out there are two different shots for pregnant women - one for over 20 weeks, and one for under 20 weeks.  The under 20 weeks one isn't in the Yukon yet.

[Capetan Mihali]

I went to two different Walgreens and they told me no dice.     So much for their freakin ads.   

They said "the government" has all the vaccines in the Philly area and we can't get them yet. 

[BuddhaRhubarb]

The implementation of the program here in Toronto has so far been craptastic.

My wife took Carl to get vaccinated; the wait was 6 hours, and she was lucky to get in at all.  There were only 2 clinics open - for a city of nearly 3 million people. 

That's impossible.  Michael Moore assured us that we did not wait at all for our health care.

he was mistaken. sometimes you have to wait... especially when people are all panicky. The news makes every clinic look like it's populated by the parents from a South Park or Simpsons cartoon.

patience is a virtue.

[merithyn]

hmm... turns out there are two different shots for pregnant women - one for over 20 weeks, and one for under 20 weeks.  The under 20 weeks one isn't in the Yukon yet.

That seems... wrong that they wouldn't have both available. Especially for such a high-risk group.

What are they saying the danger is to pregnant women, in particular? From what I've heard, this particular flu is extremely dangerous to them, but no specifics. Is the overall package just a bad combination? And how far along is she, BB? Will it be too long a wait for the 20 weeks shot?

[merithyn]

Meri, please, don't trust the media when they talk about science

I don't.

It's hard, but we have to make a difference between media hype and scientific facts.  And the facts are clear:  the disease is potentially lethal, getting the vaccine is better than getting the disease, the vaccine is the best defense against a mutation of the disease and if it happens, against the mutated virus.

Now, even if the media were to tell you everyone is going to die, that's not true.  Look at the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.  Not everybody got it, not everyone died of it.

However, there is a simple remedy: a vaccine.  There's no dangers with vaccines, for most poeple.   Those suffering from allergies of immune system disease should of course consult their doctors, like they do for everything.  But everyone else should get the vaccine.  Especially the kids.

Why?

Simple, really.
The more vaccinated people we have, the less interruptions there will be to our way of lives.  Imagine coming at work and 1/4 of the workforce is not there this morning... How is this going to affect the performance of the company?  Multiply that by 2 weeks and by, say, half the number of companies in any given area.

You see what it did to Mexico when they were it?  Were there 10 millions dead in the city?  No, of course not.
But there was widespread panic, there was a quarantine on the country, all flights to and from Mexico were suspended, and many US hospitals near Mexico were overwhelmed with patients, wich is exactly what we are seeing now.

A vaccine costs 8$ to the government.  Having someone in intensive care costs 500$ a day + the drugs to stabilize him.

I think it's cost effective.  Therefore warranted.

It's not simply about dying or living, if that was the choice, nearly everyone would get it.
The choice is with taking the chance of being sick & transmitting the disease or getting the vaccine and stopping the disease in its track.

Of course it's a chance.  It's a probability, not a certitude.  It's the same thing as going to a Christmas party with half of your family sick with the flu.  There's a good chance you'll get it yourself in a few days.  But there's also a possibility that you won't be sick.

i.e. it's a convenience vaccination.

[crazy canuck]

Vaccine shortages here in BC means that the shots we arranged for our office next week have been delayed until the supply comes in.

I wish that more people ignored the medical professionals like Meri.   Too many people doing what they should do means that I have to wait a little longer.

[katmai]

Yeah the free clinic shots were delayed as not enough to make it worthwhile, even the schools are short in supply iirc.

[Barrister]

I have my shot.   

[viper37]

i.e. it's a convenience vaccination.

all vaccines are like that.
Look at most of the disease we get a vaccine for.
There weren't billions of dead from these diseases every year before the vaccine.

But there were a lot of sick people.  And we decided we could get rid of that, for the betterment of the society.  And I still don't see why some people are freaking about the vaccine.

If most people were to get the seasonal flu shot, we could improve our productivity by a lot.
But hey, people prefer to take their sick days and stay home feeling bad.  Figures.

[grumbler]

But hey, people prefer to take their sick days and stay home feeling bad.  Figures.

Nothing sucks worse than taking a sick day, and then feeling too poorly to enjoy it.