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Dear Dr. Mariano, Well, here it is! The token ‘swine flu’ question!
I am the point person at the elementary school where I work for the H1N1 flu virus. I have attended our local public health seminars, etc, and am going to be giving presentations to the teachers and then again to the parents about what I have learned.I basically have to just relate the information I have gotten from the public health department and the latest CDC recommendations. I really don’t have any choice in what I present, unfortunately.
The recommendation is that EVERYONE receive the seasonal flu vaccine, so that it will be easier to differentiate btw the seasonal flu and the H1N1- in other words- when someone presents with flu symptoms, we can assume it is H1N1 because the person has been vaccinated for the seasonal flu.
My questions are: (and this is for personal information rather than what I would be presenting)
-How do you feel about seasonal flu vaccination?
-What do you think of getting the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available? (There is talk about releasing it earlier than planned without proper testing)
Thank you in advance for your thoughts on this,
Sincerely, Chris
Mentormedic, that’s the problem- they may release the vaccine without proper testing. Half of the health care community is wary of taking it for this reason- it could cause more problems than the illness itself. At this point I am suggesting to my family to increase vitamin D, use oscillococcinum, good hygiene and hope it doesn’t become more virulent.
Well, from my point of view, The flu shot is an inactivated vaccine, containing killed virus, that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. It contains three seasonal influenza viruses. The three seasonal vaccine viruses – one A (H3N2) virus, one regular seasonal influenza A (H1N1) virus, and one B virus, are representative of the seasonal influenza vaccine strains recommended for that year.
Quite informative discussion running over here for H!N!.As the matter is about vaccination I also want to add one point in which I want to share few suggestions of priority for vaccination.I think
Pregnant women.
People who live with those whose immune systems are compromised, such as cancer patients or people with HIV/AIDS.
People aged 65 and over in the seasonal flu vaccine at-risk groups.
Young children aged between six months and five years.
Frontline health and social care workers will also be offered the vaccine at the same time as the first clinical at-risk groups. Health and social care workers are both at an increased risk of catching swine flu and of spreading it to other at-risk patients.In examining the risks versus benefits of flu shots – including those for the H1N1 virus, I would recommend everyone get the flu shot.
From the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm:
The 36,000 estimate was presented in a 2003 study by CDC scientists published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), using similar statistical modeling techniques, but only refers to a period from 1990-91 through 1998-99. During those years, the number of estimated deaths ranged from 17,000 to 52,000, with an average of about 36,000. The JAMA study also looked at seasonal influenza-associated deaths over a 23 year period, from 1976-1977 and 1998-1999. During that period, estimates of respiratory and circulatory influenza-associated deaths ranged from about 5,000 to about 52,000, with an average of about 25,000. While the 36,000 number is often cited, it’s important to note that during that decade, most of the seasons were influenza A (H3N2) prominent and H3N2 influenza viruses are typically associated with higher deaths rates. CDC believes that the range of deaths over the past 31 years (~3,000 to ~49,000) is a more accurate representation of the unpredictability and variability of flu-associated deaths.
Thousands of Americans die each year of the flu. There are between 3,000 to 49,000 deaths each year due to the flu, with an average noted to be 36,000 a year from the Journal of the American Medical Association, though this is highly variable.
In particular, children and older adults are much more at risk of death from H1N1.
The risks of serious adverse effects from the flu vaccine (including H1N1) is very very very low.
Thus, I recommend unequivocally everyone get the flu shot.
Face masks and respirators may well offer additional protection, but should not flu.But your first line of defense against both seasonal and pandemic very little about whether any face masks against the flu.There ‘s a difference between a face mask and protective announced a ventilator. A mask does not seal tightly to the face. Face masks include masks, surgical, dental, medical procedure, isolation, or laser masks labeled. N95 or higher respirators are classified filtering face pieces, which lie close to the face. Respirators filter out viral particles with the correct attitude, which is not as easy as it sounds.
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