Election-Free Public Service Announcement

by hilzoy

It is the season for flu shots, and so I thought I'd remind everyone that even though flu shots do not protect against avian flu, the threat of an avian flu pandemic gives everyone two additional reasons to get one.

(1) Influenza is a nasty disease. In the event of an avian flu pandemic, you do not want your body to be weakened by already having had the normal flu, nor do you want to get the normal flu when your body is already weakened by having had and survived avian flu. One bout of influenza is more than enough.

(2) One of the things people worry about is the possibility that avian flu and human flu might swap genes with each other, and that in this way the avian flu might acquire from the human flu whatever makes it more readily transmitted from one human to another. (Influenza viruses can do this.) This could happen only in a being that was infected with both avian and human flu at the same time. The chances that you personally will be the site in which this happens are pretty remote, but since the consequences are potentially enormous, it's worth taking it down to zero by getting a flu shot.

So if you've been putting it off, think about the fun of having two serious influenzas back to back, or being the person in whom avian flu assumes a new and much more contagious form, and go get your flu shot ;)

Update and P.S.: Consider this an open thread.

Comments

[rilkefan]

Is there enough to go around?

[liberal japonicus]

We've had an unseasonably warm period here in Japan, but it has gotten cold today, so I guess it is time to think about it. However, I need to do some research as to the differences between the japanese version of the shot and the US version. Can anyone tell me some info about what is happening in the states and what kind of shot it is?

I also recommend the flu wiki
http://www.fluwikie.com

[liberal japonicus]

Sorry, I should have made that last a link
http://www.fluwikie.com

[Jay S]

Rilkefan,
There are some articles indicating a short term shortage but plenty of supply throughout the season with more becoming available in December and January. It may depend on your location. I was a volunteer for a flu shot clinic at my HMO last week. We had plenty of vaccine, although we ran out of preservative free vaccine at our location toward the end.

[IntricateHelix]

I have always found these weekly influenza summaries really interesting to watch through the flu season. (USA Here and International Here) We tend to use them to motivate patients scared of needles to go ahead and get the shot once they see the red closing in on them.

[john miller]

My wife works in a family practice office and they received their supply just over a week ago. Last year it came in a few shots here and a few shots there, so I would expect the supply to be better.
Like Jay S said, although right now the emphasis is on the most susceptible, by January there should be sufficient supply for everybody.

[Bernard Yomtov]

It is strange that supplying the vaccine, even when there ends up being plenty, seems to be a disorganized mess. My doctor's office said they had no idea when the next shipment would arrive, and I should check back in a few days.

Does anyone understand why this problem arises every year?

[JakeB]

Well, having voted, I now intend to avoid looking at the internets, TV, or listening to the radio until tomorrow morning. I wish you all well.

[Tim]

They just detected low path H5N1 in ducks in Niagara county, so a flu shot definitely is on the menu.

[kid bitzer]

"think about being the person in whom avian flu assumes a new and much more contagious form"

you're such a glass-is-half-empty person, hilzoy!

think about the undying fame of having the strain named after you!

I mean, once the pandemic is traced back to your wasted cadaver, of course.

"Bitzer flu"--ahh, I like the sound of that. "The great Bitzer outbreak of 2007"--famous forever! You might even pass into a byword for general pestilence--"a bitzer upon him, the whoreson rogue! he's nought but a plague and a bitzer!"

All that potential for glory, and you want to get a flu shot instead?

[dutchmarbel]

I *do* often wish "a hilzoy on both their houses" :)

[von]

Why oh why do the Democrats love the bird flu so?

As for elections: Ironically, given the amount of disaffection I feel toward my putative party, it was close to a straight ticket: Lugar (R-US Sen), Erickson (R-US House), the incumbent Republican for county prosecutor, and a couple Libertarians for spice. Only D in the mix was Orentlicher (Indiana House) -- and only because, as the most super-dooper liberal member of the House, he's a sure vote against the anti-gay marriage amendment that's currently percolating in these here parts.

[kid bitzer]

you're totally missing the point, dutchmarbel.

I was talking about curses. You're talking about blessings.

[simp]

We can also emphasize the importance of Influenza but NOT using he word "FLU" for every little viral bug (i.e. cold) that you get this season.

I'm tired of hearing people say "I've got the flu" when it is simply a head or chest cold.

[Bernard Yomtov]

A flea and a fly were imprisoned in a flue
Said the fly, "Let us flee"
Said the flea, "Let us fly"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

Just thought I'd throw that in.

[kid bitzer]

just to go with the flow.
(not to flay the joke).

[dutchmarbel]

kidbitzer: that was what the typography was supposed to convey. But I'm used to people not laughing at my jokes :)

[kid bitzer]

dutchmarbel--

no, your joke was very clear, and funny as well.

It was rather I who veered into non-humor by making your subtle compliment into a non-subtle one. My apologies.

(Still, it's a compliment I thought worth making explicit, even at the cost of making it less funny).

[dutchmarbel]

/me starts humming.... "we shall overcohohome, we shall overcohohome, we shall overcoooooooome one daaaaaaahaaahaahhaaahaaay" :)

[kid bitzer]

yeah, you're right--I've probably exhausted my stocks of sincerity for the next three weeks.
Better go off and snark somewhere.

[Dianne]

I had a little bird, its name was Inza. I opened the window and in flew inza.