The flu shot hysteria makes me laugh.

[OutHouse]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/health/us-flu-season/index.html

There have been 20 deaths of people under the age of 18 since the flu outbreak began.


tell it to the parents of the 20 people that died from the flu.

How many of those got the shot

 

[OutHouse]

Oh really???

Yup he is 60% correct

 

[QueBert]

A few years ago my roommate got the shot and still ended up getting the flu.

He also paid for "rush processing" on Newegg for an item and it ended up taking longer to get here than anything else he'd ever ordered

 

[darkswordsman17]

Oh come on, please don't try the guilt trip thing. If the flu can be spread by those who didn't get the flu shot to people who DID get the shot, then that shot was pretty darn ineffective. Isn't the whole point of the shot to prevent you from getting the flu in the first place?

Just makes the flu shot sound like even more baloney.

Along with what DrPizza stated, there's overlap between when people get the flu shot so you could infect someone that got the flu shot (or is going to get the flu shot shortly) but has not yet built up immunity. Plus there are people that cannot/should not get the flu shot for health reasons. And also remember all the dumbass parents that don't get their kids vaccinated?

 

[John Connor]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ses-rise-FOUR-TIMES-number-reported-year.html



OP, if you actually knew anybody in health care like I do you would not have created this thread. Your first post may have been valid if it was not made this year, but it was, and this flu season is unusually destructive.

The current outbreak of the flu going around is something the current vaccine doesn't cover! It's so stupid! My mom works in a nursing home and she has to get the flu shoot, but now everyone around her is sick and making for even more work. WTF is that! So much for the flu shoot.

 

[John Connor]

Exactly what Doppel said.
Read some stats on this years #s and the strength of this/these strain(s). It's really devastating.

Like I said it's a different strain that the current flu shot doesn't cover. They have a different shot for it though.

 

[Baked]

I don't get the flu, the flu got Baked.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I feel sorry for the people who have passed away from this. My observation has been that every little thing these days causes mass casualties because our world is now safer than ever which has brought about overpopulation.

I was raised to always wash my hands before eating or after touching bacteria prone surfaces. I even shower two or times a day and keep a bottle of isopropyl alcohol within arms reach. I just like the peace of mind of preventative care and being physically and spiritually clean.

This philosophy came in handy since I was proscribed between 10-40mg of prednisone on a daily basis from 1997 until 2010. This was to WEAKEN my immune system because starting around 1990 it had mutated thanks to immunity drugs I took in the ARMY, which made it start attacking healthy tissue. This has since been surgically corrected.

The only other alteration to my immune system that I have had in the last 15 years was the vaccination for H1N1 in 2009. Otherwise, Ive no need to constantly alter my immune system on a whim every year. It turned into FRANKENSTEIN once and Ill be dern if I let that happen again.

 

[Fausto]

Every year the media trys to whip everyone into a frenzy so the people who make these drugs can sell them before they go bad. Yes, EVERY year the flu makes people miserable for days, but they recover.

Unfortuantely, some do not recover and vulnerable age groups should consider vaccination.

However, I feel this whole thing is overblown (as usual) and will soon pass.

Spoken like a guy who will never get the flu because he's a creepy shut-in.

 

[sourceninja]

60-70% isn't worth it for me. I feel like shit ever time I get that shot. So getting the flu shot means 1 week of feeling like shit and still a pretty good chance that I got nothing from it.

Not getting the shot just means I might get the flu (something that hasn't happened to me as long as I remember.) It would be different if I worked in a profession like heath care. Instead I sit in a cave all day writing code.

 

[Brainonska511]

The current outbreak of the flu going around is something the current vaccine doesn't cover! It's so stupid! My mom works in a nursing home and she has to get the flu shoot, but now everyone around her is sick and making for even more work. WTF is that! So much for the flu shoot.

That's absolutely false. Please don't quit schooling now.

So far, according to the CDC, this year's North American vaccine matches well with the most predominant type of flu spreading in the United States, but is less well matched to the No. 2 type of virus.
This year's North American vaccine is made from three viruses: two types of influenza A virus (H3N2 and H1N1) and an influenza B virus.
As of January 5, the CDC said Friday, the predominant virus in the United States was an influenza A (H3N2) virus that matched well with the H3N2 virus represented in the vaccine. Of the H3N2 viruses tested at that point, 99.4% matched the type that the vaccine protects against.
The match for influenza B viruses, the second-most common this season, wasn't as good. Of the influenza B viruses tested between October 1 and January 5, 66.7% were the type represented in the vaccine.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/10/health/flu-vaccine-effectiveness/index.html

 

[Texashiker]

I can tell that science isn't your strong suit.

Yes, it is precisely the reason why a new flu vaccine is needed every year.

HepA, HepB, norovirus, polio and small pox never mutate?

Its a good thing we were able to wipe our small pox before it mutated and made the vaccine ineffective.

Why were we able to eliminate small pox and have corned polio, but flu requires a yearly vaccine.

 

[Baptismbyfire]

one flu over the cuckoo's nest

Impressive :thumbsup:

 

[dmcowen674]

The flu shot hysteria makes me laugh.

Every year the media trys to whip everyone into a frenzy so the people who make these drugs can sell them before they go bad. Yes, EVERY year the flu makes people miserable for days, but they recover.

Unfortuantely, some do not recover and vulnerable age groups should consider vaccination.

However, I feel this whole thing is overblown (as usual) and will soon pass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic

The 1918 flu pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920)[1] was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic which infected 500 million[2] people across the world, including remote Pacific islands and the arctic, and killed 20 to 50 million of them—1 to 3 percent of the world's population[3] at the time—making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.[2][4][5][6][7]

 

[ichy]

Otherwise, Ive no need to constantly alter my immune system on a whim every year. It turned into FRANKENSTEIN once and Ill be dern if I let that happen again.

Vaccines don't alter your immune system you blathering idiot, they encourage it to protect you in the way that it naturally does. Sterilizing everything around you so that you're not exposed to germs is far more "unnatural" for your immune system.

 

[ichy]

A 60 to 70 percent reduction in my chances of feeling like complete and utter shit for a week (and that's ignoring all the herd immunity benefits of the flu vaccine) sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Also, all the people who say they had the flu and it wasn't a big deal probably did not have influenza.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Every year the media trys to whip everyone into a frenzy so the people who make these drugs can sell them before they go bad. Yes, EVERY year the flu makes people miserable for days, but they recover.

Unfortuantely, some do not recover and vulnerable age groups should consider vaccination.

However, I feel this whole thing is overblown (as usual) and will soon pass.

People who relish their own ignorance make me sigh.

 

[Rustican]

HepA, HepB, norovirus, polio and small pox never mutate?

Its a good thing we were able to wipe our small pox before it mutated and made the vaccine ineffective.

Why were we able to eliminate small pox and have corned polio, but flu requires a yearly vaccine.

There is a fundamental difference between the genetic make up of the flu and the other viruses you listed. The flu is an RNA virus which is prone to mutation and so changes from year to year. Smallpox and some types of Hep are DNA based making them more stable with a much lower rate of genetic change from generation to generation.

The stability of these DNA based viruses helps in creating vaccines. They are effective but only until the virus changes enough to over come it. In the case of Smallpox, we were able to vaccinate a majority of the world fast enough before the virus was able to mutate enough to render it ineffective. This is how it was wiped out.

Again, science isn't your strong point.

 

[nehalem256]

HepA, HepB, norovirus, polio and small pox never mutate?

Its a good thing we were able to wipe our small pox before it mutated and made the vaccine ineffective.

Why were we able to eliminate small pox and have corned polio, but flu requires a yearly vaccine.

For HepA and HepB it might have something to do with the transmission vector giving it less opportunity to mutate.

Also, are you really surprised that certain viruses might be more or less likely to mutate?

 

[Texashiker]

There is a fundamental difference between the genetic make up of the flu and the other viruses you listed. The flu is an RNA virus which is prone to mutation and so changes from year to year. Smallpox and some types of Hep are DNA based making them more stable with a much lower rate of genetic change from generation to generation.

Are you going to tell me viruses like polio, HepA, HepB, noro and small pox can not adapt like what TB and gonorrhea can?

If we can wipe small pox out, why cant we wipe the flu out.

Well, there is one reason not to wipe flu out, and that reason is profits.

Did you follow the pertussis outbreak in california a few years ago? Did you read the research articles about the outbreak?

The current whooping cough vaccine is not as strong as the one given 30 years ago. Why is it not as strong? So children will need a booster shot, which makes the drug companies billions in profit.

related article - http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellne...tive-early-form-study-finds/story?id=16898211

The United States might see the highest number of cases of whooping cough in more than five decades this year, possibly caused by a weaker vaccine, many experts say.

Could we imagine the horror if we had a "real" flu vaccine that lasted 10, 15 20 years?

The reduced effectiveness of the whooping cough vaccine shows there is a line between profits and effectiveness the drug companies wish to maintain.

Then there are the occasional mumps outbreaks, which have occurred in fully vaccinated students. The result of the outbreak, the government called for booster shots.

What was the result of the California pertussis outbreak? The government is considering booster shots. But then again, why not revert to a stronger vaccine?

Like I said before, its a good thing we had people who put public health over profits working on the small pox and polio vaccine.

 

[Number1]

The flu vaccine is not even close to 100% effective, its not even in the ball park, its not even in the same town or anywhere close to 100% effective.




Maybe its time for drug companies to improve their research into flu vaccines?

If the HepB vaccine can be something like 99% effective, then what is the issue with the flu vaccine?

Let me guess, its because the flu virus mutates so fast? But for some reason the polio and hepB viruses do not mutate?

If the small pox vaccine was ineffective as the flu vaccine, millions of people would have died in the past 5 decades. Its a good thing we had real scientist that actually cared about public health working on the polio vaccine.

Holy F Batman, this is one of the most idiotic post I have ever read.

 

[DaWhim]

whatever doesn't kill you only make u stronger.

so far, flu free here while everyone else in my household got sick from the flu already.

I got flu last time in china around july last year. who knows? it could be the same one so I am immune to it already.

 

[Number1]

You very likely would have gotten the flu anyway.

Why would you say this? This year's flu vaccine effectiveness is 62%. How would this not reduce his chance of getting the flu?

 

[nanobreath]

HepA, HepB, norovirus, polio and small pox never mutate?

Its a good thing we were able to wipe our small pox before it mutated and made the vaccine ineffective.

Why were we able to eliminate small pox and have corned polio, but flu requires a yearly vaccine.

See, you're very smart because you have asked a very important question. But why is your first reaction "this is all a conspiracy!", instead of "surely there is a reason this happens let me go find out why".

Short answer:
Every virus is different, and viruses like influenza and rhinovirus (common cold) use RNA instead of DNA as their genetic material. RNA is much more susceptible to mutation (copying defects) than DNA, as such viruses based on RNA mutate much faster, and have much more varied mutations than viruses based on DNA.
Influenza is also unique in that it can also easily borrow genetic information from other influenza strains. If two different strains affect you, they can mix and match their genes and create a whole different virus. These changes are usually so drastic our bodies have a much more difficult time recognizing them and fighting them.
Again, influenza is very unique in that it can affect multiple species. Usually a virus (like polio or chicken pox etc) affect one species like humans. Influenza though can infect birds, pigs, monkeys, humans, etc etc. With so many possible hosts the virus can spread and mutate much quicker.

With viruses that mutate slowly and stay in one species, you can inoculate enough of the population so that the virus has no hosts to infect. With no hosts to infect, these viruses actually die out completely. With a fast mutating virus like influenza, by the time you inoculate everybody to every strain in existence, it has already mutated into something else slightly different and it can still infect hosts and continue to survive. Thus it becomes near impossible to eradicate, but with current science levels, we can predict and react to limit its effectiveness.

As you can see Influenza is a very unique virus, unlike many other viruses we come in contact with. Yes this is the short answer, if you really want to know why influenza is different, rather than remain ignorant, go google and read up on it.

 

[PokerGuy]

I weep for the future of humanity, the level of stupidity displayed in this thread is astounding. Even more so when you factor in that this is a tech board and presumably frequented by people who have a little better understanding of science and technology than the average person.