The Flu

B

Banjo

Expelled
Premium Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2003
Messages
11,620
Reaction score
6
The flu is not to be taken lightly, it's not just a few thousand people who dies from the flu everyday.

It's in tens of thousands. You can expect a brand new flu epidemic to take place soon, maybe in a few years. We are overdue for another one anyway. From what I know, 20,000 to 40,000 Americans die from the flu every year.

5% to 20% of the population gets the flu;
more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications; and
approximately 36,000 people die from flu.

Click here for the facts on the flu. (SOURCE: CDC)
Click to expand...

5 FLU MYTHS

Myth: "Starve a cold and feed a fever (flu)."

Fact: You need more fluids than usual when you have the flu or a cold. Drink plenty of water and juice, eat well and drink hot fluids to ease your cough and sore throat.

Myth: You can catch the flu from a flu shot.

Fact: The vaccine is made from an inactivate virus, so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot. Some people may be sore at the injection spot and a few may feel unwell for a day or two. In very rare cases, a person allergic to the vaccine may have an immediate reaction.

Myth: One kind of flu is the "stomach flu."

Fact: About one out of three people with the flu may have an upset stomach, but this is rarely the main flu symptom. Food poisoning or other viruses or bacteria are more common causes of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Myth: You can catch the flu from going outdoors in cold weather.

Fact: Flu is more common in the winter months because that is when the virus spreads. It has nothing to do with being outside in cold weather.

Myth: Chicken soup and hot toddies are effective treatments.

Fact: Hot liquids can soothe a scratchy throat or cough, but chicken soup has no special power to cure the flu. Any beverage with alcohol should be avoided when you are sick.

Click here to read more. (SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press)
Click to expand...

MYTH: It’s easy to know when you have the flu.

Influenza is actually difficult to diagnose without a test. Specialists trained in recognition of influenza will typically diagnose influenza correctly only a third of the time. In patients that later prove to have influenza, doctors often make a diagnosis of a bacterial illness like sinusitis, pharyngitis or bronchitis nearly two out of three times. These diagnoses, of course, lead to treating patients with antibiotics. Inaccurate diagnosis is the common reason for overuse of antibiotics and the related complications.

MYTH: I got vaccinated last year, so I don’t need to go again.

False. The dominant strains of the flu are different each year and the vaccine also differs each year.

Click here to read more. (SOURCE: DrDonnica.com)
Click to expand...

People older than 65 account for 90% of flu deaths each year.

But until that happens, there are already 185 million people in the United States for whom influenza vaccine is recommended, but last year only 83 million were vaccinated, he noted. "So there is a lot of opportunity to expand within the current recommendation without even expanding those recommendations."

Click here to read more. (SOURCE: AMNews.com)
Click to expand...

Using new and improved statistical models, CDC scientists estimate that an average of 36,000 people (up from 20,000 in previous estimates) die from influenza related complicated each year in the United States. In addition, about 11,000 people die per year from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a virus that causes upper and lower respiratory tract infections primarily in young children and older adults. The study demonstrates that most deaths caused by RSV occur in the elderly.

Click here to read more. (SOURCE: MedicalNewsService.com)
Click to expand...

Like many doctors are saying, seniors, toddlers and people with health conditions should be the first in place for the flu shots since they're at the highest risks. Think about how you're putting them at the risk of dying from the flu. 36,000 deaths in relation to the flu in America is not a small number. Especially when CDC had estimated the lowest death tally at 16,000 somewhere in the 90s.
 
Hey Banjo....does Canada have flu vacinnes available there? If so, we will make a run to canada for one!....
 
Defee said:
Hey Banjo....does Canada have flu vacinnes available there? If so, we will make a run to canada for one!....
Click to expand...

Yes, but don't count on getting one for yourself. Now a lot of flu clinics are requiring photo IDs in order to verify that you're a Canadian.

Sorry.
 
Hey, "President" Bush said not to worry about it. Just "prioritize" it, just a select group of people ought to have the flu shot anyway. Four years, folks, do you want more of the same???
VOTE KERRY
time for a change, fire the liar
 
Banjo is right, the flu kills about forty thousand people in the USA each year.
I recently posted an article about a Russian virologist who warns that there could be a pandemic this year, with about a Billion deaths worldwide. I read a couple more today, and I just dunno.
This may sound a bit off-the-wall, but it is my understanding that most flus are gotten through picking noses! Just keep your hands clean, and do not pick your nose.
 
Beowulf said:
Just keep your hands clean, and do not pick your nose.
Click to expand...

Yes, and if you cannot resist the temptation to pick your nose. At least use a tissue!
 
Banjo said:
Yes, but don't count on getting one for yourself. Now a lot of flu clinics are requiring photo IDs in order to verify that you're a Canadian.

Sorry.
Click to expand...
Haha..i know that..i was just joking..its the same policy here in US too..
we just try to avoid people who are sick with it, wash our hands more often especially after shopping where you push them shopping carts that may have germs on the handle, etc.
 
Not only get a flu shot or not, but wash your hands about the time it takes you to say the 28 letters of the alphabets. Also, using the disinfectang spray regularly in your homes can help prevent you from getting colds and the flu.

I agree that children, seniors and others at risk should be the first to get them before those who don't. I just think of others who need it more than me.
 
TiaraPrincess said:
Not only get a flu shot or not, but wash your hands about the time it takes you to say the 28 letters of the alphabets. Also, using the disinfectang spray regularly in your homes can help prevent you from getting colds and the flu.

I agree that children, seniors and others at risk should be the first to get them before those who don't. I just think of others who need it more than me.
Click to expand...
Good suggestions.
I work on a college campus about 12 hours per day, so I am exposed to a lot of germs all day. I have to use the college restrooms, touch the computer lab keyboards, sit facing coughers, etc. I wash my hands and use the rough brown paper towels many times a day. I am really using much hand lotion, ha, ha!
 
There are some people who don't wash their hands or barely makes it to the water. They just moist their fingers to make it seem like they are washing their hands. I am going to teach my children in the future to wash their hands properly and not to care about what other people do.

My brother got the flu in the winter from college (other people had the flu), then he was on mom's bed sick and trying to study in comfort. Well, guess what? The next day she is sick! LOL, I stayed away from them and my mom spray the house with disinfectant and didn't get it. It's important to use those things to kill the bacterias :D.

Oh and you are supposed to change the bedsheets and wash them in hot water and change your toothbrush after you get sick.
 
Sanitation is always important but just remember that some cleaning methods and chemicals kill only bacteria, some kill only viruses, some clean both.

We can keep our homes clean but we are stuck with public environments like stores and schools.

Another good reason to shop on-line at home! :) I don't want to be at a mall with all those coughing and sneezing shoppers. :(
 
No Reba, don't take it that far. Just shop when you need to and avoid being around people who are coughing. Some people take antibacterial liquid gel or towelletes to wipe off anything you're touching.

Also, taking Vitamin C, Ester-C, Echinacea, oh and Aloe Vera in your liquid like orange juice can help prevent colds and maybe the flu. Aloe Vera's not the best taste, but if you want to prevent it then taking it is a good idea.

All of this can help prevent a lot of sickness. My mom uses disinfectant at work in her cubicle and she said one year she didn't get nothing then got it the next time LOL. Sometimes we give up and not think what we are doing is enough, but it can help greatly! :D.

It's not fun being sick....maybe to miss school for some, but it's not once you are in it lol. I sometimes wished I got a cold or fever to avoid going to school back then lol.
 
TiaraPrincess said:
No Reba, don't take it that far. Just shop when you need to and avoid being around people who are coughing.
Click to expand...
I am just teasing. I never like shopping malls, so I prefer on-line shopping anyway. :)

It's not fun being sick....maybe to miss school for some, but it's not once you are in it lol. I sometimes wished I got a cold or fever to avoid going to school back then lol.
Click to expand...
Most importantly, I don't want to become sick because I have no sub terps to take my place. I terp for four different Deaf students, and there are not enough terps for substitutes. The subs have to come from out of town, about 100 miles from here. So I try to stay very healthy. Since almost 5 years working at the college I have not missed one day due to sickness. I almost missed one day because of jury duty, but I begged the judge to excuse me and I made it to work at last minute. Whew!
 
FlyFree, they don't cure, but they help prevent. I think people fail to see that it prevents greatly the sickness you can get.

Wow, Reba. You really put others before you :D. Many people wish to have days off LOL. I had an interpreter that went on jury duty and got paid. I think I may have had all week covered by a few interpreters and maybe some days no interpreter lol.

Did you really avoid jury duty because you don't want to be in jury duty also? LOL, but it makes sense in this situation, especially if people do not get paid.
 
TiaraPrincess said:
Did you really avoid jury duty because you don't want to be in jury duty also? LOL, but it makes sense in this situation, especially if people do not get paid.
Click to expand...
I really don't mind jury duty. It was just bad timing for this last one. I have been summoned to duty three times in the last 5 years.

The first time was at the County Court House (about one-hour commute daily) for one week. I served on one trial as a juror, one as an alternate, and was eliminated from a third trial because I knew one of witnesses.

The second time was for a district court in anothe town, about 2-hour drive. They didn't need me for that trial. (They always summon more jurors than needed, so they can let some go.)

The third one was a Superior Court, about a one-hour distance from home. That is the one where I showed up the first day, to request the judge excuse me.

Each court pays a daily amount for service and expenses. It is nowhere near the amount of money that most people lose from their jobs when they miss work for jury duty, but it helps.

Actually, jury duty is very interesting, and I don't mind doing my citizen duties. Sometimes it just hits at the wrong time.

Like the flu, sometimes you can't predict when the jury call will come :)
 
Back
Top