Flu Outbreak

I remember people were flipping out. "I'M NEVER GETTING THE FLU SHOT!"

Etoille_sl said:

I should add that the MMR shot does actually make me a little nervous for obvious reasons but I understand the reasons for getting it anyways. Its the only one though.

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What reasons are those? 1) The alleged link between this vaccine and autism has been thoroughly debunked. The scientific paper has beenfully retracted by The Lancetwho initially published the dishonest paper by Andrew Wakefield. 2) The 3 virus' are attenuated - not fully virulent to humans.

I'm still never getting the flu shot, but not for the BS in the video. Mainly because what's the point? It vaccinates you against last years strain..which does what for you this year? Nothing.

caramon13_sl said:

I'm still never getting the flu shot, but not for the BS in the video. Mainly because what's the point? It vaccinates you against last years strain..which does what for you this year? Nothing.

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That's not how it works.
Read my earlier posts as well as Etoilles.
http://www.rerolled.org/showthread.p...ll=1#post73327

Basically you're endangering others by not getting the shot regardless of you having symptoms. That makes you an ass. An uneducated one as well.

EDIT:
For clarification this is why you're wrong in an epidemiological sense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histori...luenza_vaccine

Erronius_sl said:

I was at school studying last Monday and there was some guy in there coughing nonstop. Sounded like he had tapioca pudding in his lungs. And I was sitting there thinking to myself "Watch me get sick as shit now". And sure enough, I've been sick since Tuesday.

Thankfully this year has not been as bad as the last 2 years, when I was working outside in all weather and would be sick for weeks at a time. The one time I did go to the doctor (my employer insisted) they did some nasal swab to see if I had the flu, told me I didn't, and sent me home with no diagnosis at all. And last winter I was sick for over a month and probably coughed up a few gallons of crap until I grabbed some spare amox from family and I was clear within like 2 days. So now I wonder if I'm even getting the flu at all (what on earth would amoxicillin do if it actually was the flu?) and I will prob try scoring some more if I end up sick for more than a week again this year.

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Correlation does not equal causation. You do not know what the guy had, nor do you know what you have. Nor do you know if he is the one who passed it to you. You could have gotten it from anyone and anything you touched. You assuming it was this guy reeks of witch hunt and ignorance, not cool.

The swab is to test for influenza A/B - virus' infections. The swab does not test for bacteria, fungi or idiopathic causes of rhinitis/pharyngitis/gastroenteritis.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals...s/rapidlab.htm
Taking someone else's meds is always a bad idea. Interactions, expiration dates, etc etc. Seriously, you're gambling with your health doing what you did. Amoxicillin is an AB penicillin that also works on Gram neg rods* - will not work vs a virus infection. Again, correlation and causation: you don't know what you had, you don't know if the Amoxicillin worked on what you had. You need an AB resistance test on the specific bacteria to know. What you ARE doing is making room for the bacteria that are resistant to Amoxicillin on your body surface - Selection pressure. This is the chief reason we have MR bacteria - misuse of antibiotics. Get a prescription from a physician on a case by case basis - don't play chance with your health or anyone else's for that matter.

Get tested with a different test than the flu swab if you suspect you might have an infection other than influenza virus. Seriously. This is a no-brainer to any physician

EDIT:
*Corrected the rod part - thanks aychamo_aycono

Izo,

Anyone can quote scientific evidence either way. The long and short of it is that the flu is spread by idiots who refuse to adhere to basic hygienic principles:

Wash your hands
Stay home when sick
Don't lick faucets
Etc

No amount of my "preventative care" is going to stop me from getting the flu this year or any other year if I happen to get a mutated version of some random strain carried by some idiot who doesn't observe the basic principles above.

Flu shots are a way for us to pay the government a subsidy for our own inability to remain "clean". Wash your damn hands and stop being dirty.

I was at a theme park this weekend and I was the ONLY one out of 4 individuals that, after urinating, washed his hands before leaving. Including a father and his less than 3 year old child.

It's not rocket science and preventative care is more valuable then some random vaccine that I don't need because I take care of myself better than most of the population.

I am educated and I think that's actually why I choose not to waste time or money on some vaccine I know won't prevent a damn thing.

caramon13_sl said:

Izo,

Anyone can quote scientific evidence either way. The long and short of it is that the flu is spread by idiots who refuse to adhere to basic hygienic principles:

Wash your hands
Stay home when sick
Don't lick faucets
Etc

No amount of my "preventative care" is going to stop me from getting the flu this year or any other year if I happen to get a mutated version of some random strain carried by some idiot who doesn't observe the basic principles above.

Flu shots are a way for us to pay the government a subsidy for our own inability to remain "clean". Wash your damn hands and stop being dirty.

I was at a theme park this weekend and I was the ONLY one out of 4 individuals that, after urinating, washed his hands before leaving. Including a father and his less than 3 year old child.

It's not rocket science and preventative care is more valuable then some random vaccine that I don't need because I take care of myself better than most of the population.

I am educated and I think that's actually why I choose not to waste time or money on some vaccine I know won't prevent a damn thing.

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You're even dumber than I initially thought. Okay.
1) Anyone can quote, sure. It takes an educated mind to consistently find the correct quotes.
2) Your lack of knowledge of transmission routes and incubation time is mind boggling. While washing hands is a general principle in hygiene it will not protect you from aerosols and food born infections. Incubation time varies with diseases - usually 24-48 hours for the flu but can be more. Do you stay at home when you don't have symptoms?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmission_(medicine)
3) If the vaccine is specific for the strain you might have caught, it is excellent prophylaxis (the word you were looking for). This is as I pointed out earlier, educated guess work as to which strain is more likely for a given season. It doesn't guarantee protection from every single one - this lies in the mutation prone nature of the virus as well in a cost-benefit analysis: which to vaccinate against, and which not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histori...luenza_vaccine
4) Your notion of being clean and the government is repulsive and ignorant. It is a socio economic calculation - people actually die from the flu / get sick. It's, usually, better for society they don't.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
5) Good for you on the hand washing thing - you've eliminated 1 of many routes of transmission - if you used alcohol for instance - Did you? Some microorganisms are even resistant to alcohol. Let's hope the one who prepared your food doesn't sneeze or spit in it too. Or that you breathe, you know, aerosols. Those around kids are exposed more. I agree he should wash his hands. It will not prevent aerosols from flowing out his nostrils, however or eliminate any of the other reservoirs of opportunistic microorganisms in and on humans. It limits the transmission by hand (duh), sure.
6) You're an idiot for thinking vaccination isn't a valuable prophylaxis. It gives you specific immunity and as such is the best prophylaxis - not counting genetic shift and drift, sure.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/why.htm
7) It doesn't take a PhD in medicine to tell you're not the slightest bit educated on health. I pity you, your children and anyone who take your advise on health issues.

Erronius_sl said:

Cool story, Bro

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I merely dispense knowledge. What you do with it is not my concern. It would be good if you didn't spread misinformation though. Thanks.

aychamo_aycono_sl said:

I appreciate and agree with your point, but I think you are confused on a few points. There is no such thing as "G neg staph" (assuming you meant gram negative staph.) Also, bacterial coinfection with influenza is somewhat common. For instance, it's easy to develop a bacterial bronchitis following influenza. See:http://jvsmedicscorner.com/ICU-Infla...0influenza.pdf

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There is no confusion, simply a case of lost in translation, apologies. In my native language 'rods' is 'stave', close pronunciation with staph. Ampicillin is a penicillin which also affects gram neg rods. I will correct at once, thank you.
I'm not disputing that Ampicillin could be useful in secondary scenario, no. It does not work on the primary disease, a viral infection. The points of not taking other peoples prescription drugs with no pharma knowledge stands.

Erronius_sl said:

Yeah, I'll ignore your posts kinda like I ignore your non-stop post reporting over trivial shit.

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Heavens forbid you should do any janitorial duties. One might mistake you for a janitor then. Wouldn't want that, now would we.

Thank you for staying on topic - always a plus

aychamo_aycono_sl said:

Amen. The thing that kills me about the internet is that you can literally find out any piece of information that you need. It's fascinating. But for every piece of good information there is a piece of bad information that obfuscates it. I can search for any one disease and find 10 websites selling me something completely fake to cure it. "But I read on the internet..."

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This isn't just limited to health care. On virtually any subject, there is some website catering to crackpot opinions masquerading as facts. People are gullible as fuck.