Flu Vaccine Prevents Deaths. Last year 80,000 people in the USA died from complications of the flu. Get your flu vaccine today. If you are afraid of vaccination you, especially, should watch this video.
Is ManFlu a thing? Do men really complain more than women when they are sick? Take a look! http://snpy.tv/2Bdcjnp (Internet Explorer required)
#ManFlu. #Flu. #Cold. #Fever. #Vaccine. #FluVaccine. #Sneeze. #Cough
Every wonder what the difference is between having the “common cold” vs. “the flu”? It’s actually quite simple. I was feeling horribly while filming this video blog…hopefully by the end of it you can decide if I had a cold or the flu.
Five years ago I was working a lot for CNN. We were constantly doing reports on the H1N1 pandemic. You can actually go on YouTube and check out my channel: drjorgemd and see me discuss it ad nauseam with Anderson Cooper. It was estimated to potentially kill hundreds of thousands of people. Luckily enough people were vaccinated and a catastrophe of epic proportions was avoided. Well it is flu season again and guess what the predominant virus is: H1N1.
Similar to the outbreak in 2009, this strain of the virus does not discriminate against age. It tends to hit adults aged 18 to 64 the hardest but elderly, children and those with chronic illnesses are still at risk. The good news is it’s not too late to get a flu shot and this year’s vaccine does cover the H1N1 virus.
Whatever you do, don’t buy into the hype of all the myths and rumors surrounding the vaccine. Studies have proven the flu shot to be safe and effective and a much better alternative to the risks of the flu itself. Check out a recent blog post in which I debunk the most common myths.
This year there are several types of flu vaccines. The trivalent shot protects against two influenza A strains and one influenza B strain. It’s available in a standard dose, a high dose for patients over the age of 65, an egg-free formula for patients with egg allergies and an intradermal shot that is injected into the skin instead of the muscle.
The quadrivalent shot is new this year and protects against two influenza A and two influenza B strains. It’s available in a standard dose injection and a nasal spray.
Vacuna influenza / Flu vaccine by El Alvi is licensed under CC BY 2.0
According to the Centers for Disease Control, influenza activity is widespread in 41 states right now and the virus is active in most areas across the country and U.S. territories. Flu season typically hits its peak toward the end of January to the beginning of February. So, it’s important to take precautions right away, if you haven’t already.
Symptoms of the flu include a bad cough, high fever, runny nose, body/muscle aches and fatigue. The flu shot is the best way to prevent getting sick but it’s also important to avoid contact or close proximity to those who are sick, wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your nose, eyes and mouth.
And if you do catch the flu, stay home to keep i from spreading further. Also be sure to get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids.
I LOVE talking and writing about vaccines…just LOVE it. Especially since a lot of my friends in earthy, green, tree hugging California, where I happen to live, are against vaccinations. I am a medical doctor and excuse me for giving advice based about scientific data. (Do you sense the sarcasm yet?) Here is some data: vaccinations, for whooping cough, polio, tetanus, hepatitis and diphtheria, just to name a few, have saved millions of lives. FACT. I believe it is almost criminal for people who do not have a sense of this history to make erroneous claims regarding vaccines and in turn persuade others not to vaccinate themselves and their children. This type of “magical thinking” has lead to a resurgence of diseases that were almost eradicated. But let me stick to one type of vaccine before I fall off my soap box: the flu vaccine.
Flu season is upon us and if you’re like a lot of consumers, you may be wondering if the flu shot is worth the hassle, pain and potential risk. Google “Is the flu shot safe?” and you will find a plethora of information that is muddled in myth, rumor and exaggeration. I thought I’d take a moment and address some of the most common myths about the flu shot….
It can give you the flu. This is absolutely false. Most versions of the vaccine contain inactivated strains of the flu virus — meaning it is dead. It cannot cause illness. The nasal spray does contain a live form of the virus but it’s attenuated, which simply means that it’s weakened and it cannot thrive within the warm conditions of your body. Patients who contract the flu shortly after getting the shot were likely already infected or came into contact with the illness before the vaccine was effective — it takes up to two weeks for the vaccine to build immunity in your system.
It’s linked to Alzheimer’s. This rumor has been disproven in multiple studies that actually show the opposite may be true — individuals who get the flu shot may have a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association also says there is no credibility to this common myth.
It’s not safe for pregnant women. Studies show that women are at greater risk for complications from the flu while they are pregnant than when they are not. The antibodies mom builds up from a flu shot during pregnancy have also been shown to benefit her baby while in utero and protect her precious bundle from serious flu related complications after birth.
It doesn’t work. Sure, it’s not 100 percent effective — nothing is — and its effectiveness varies from year to year. But a recent study shows that even in seasons when the vaccine isn’t a complete match to the strains circulating, the flu shot is still effective for the majority of the population. It has also been shown to reduce the severity of the illness for those immunized patients who still catch the flu.
It can give you Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). There was a time when this was a concern. Back in 1976 there was a “small but significant association” between GBS — a neurological disorder than can cause weakness and temporary paralysis — and a vaccine for the swine flu. Vaccines are formulated differently today and recent studiesshow no link between the illness and the flu shot.
It contains mercury and it causes autism. Many naysayers point to the mercury contained in Thimerosal — a preservative that has widely been discontinued in vaccines — saying that it can cause brain damage and autism. While it’s true that methyl mercury can cause brain damage, it’s completely false when it comes to the ethyl mercury contained in Thimerosal. The differences can be likened to those between ethyl and methyl alcohol. One might cause a hangover, the other blindness. Furthermore, all single-dose vials of the flu shot are actually Thimerosal-free and studies prove that the preservative is absolutely harmless.
Everything that we do contains some element of risk and the flu vaccine is no different. Still, study after study show that the risks are minor and very insignificant. The flu on the other hand can be miserable at the very least and absolutely deadly for some. Recently, flu-associated deaths in the United States have been as high as 49,000 in one year. This is nothing to SNEEZE at! Weigh in… have you had your shot yet?