Flu Outbreak

Fever is uncommon in adults with a cold, but is common in children.

Now ask yourself this, what temperature do you consider a fever? The answer is 100.4 'F. A lot of people come in saying they are running a "low grade" fever of 99, because they think if they aren't 98.6 then they have a fever. I believe that number was based on a very old paper, and the actual mean body temperature in humans is a tad bit lower (98.2?), but it's a mean, so people are +/- 0.5 to 1 degree or so, and your body temperature fluctuates a bit throughout the day, and add on to that that the vast majority (99.99999%) of people only take their temperature when they feel ill, so the whole thing is a bit confusing to patients. Especially mothers that say "He was running a fever!" And you ask if they checked it with a thermometer and they say "No, I used the back of my hand. But I'm a mother, I know what a fever feels like!" And the child is sitting there at 98.4.

That sucks the nurse was too aggressive with the shot. They shouldn't be, especially considering that so many people (not necessarily you) are nervous about getting them.

Elurin_sl said:

9% effectiveness for seniors with this years shot. Nice.

http://news.yahoo.com/flu-shot-doing...232338537.html

I stand by my decision not to get the flu vaccine. It's a fucking guessing game. I'll stick to washing my hands regularly.

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It's a good thing that your "opinion" has no real effect over anyone else other than yourself. I'm posting a new article about bacterial coinfection with influenza, to show just have dangerous the flu can be.

And the rest of the article. Just to show you that you really just dont have a grasp of what you are even talking about. It's not just "the flu", there are a ridiculous number of sequelae from having the flu, and it's important to do what we can to prevent it, especially in high risk indiviudals.

Elurin_sl said:

Right, but I'm not talking about how dangerous the flu can be (at least not this time). I'm just saying that the vaccination this year has been almost entirely ineffectual for one of the main two groups it's recommended for. If you're one of those 91% that it didn't do shit for, or someone who didn't get the vaccination, your article is just as relevant.

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Well, your post is superficially dishonest. I see where you're getting them from, but the data showed that it was 9% effective against the harsher strain of flu going around in people age > 65, and 27% effective against all flu strains in people > 65. It was 62% (or 67%?) effective in all people this year. And of course we can work out the numbers. Flu causes around 24,000 deaths in the USA each year.

24,000 * .09 = 2160 lives saved (if we look at the harsh strain in people > 65)
24,000 * .27 = 6480 lives saved (if we look at all strains in people > 65)

And even if those numbers are correct, it's not that simple. If an elderly person gets influenza and then gets a superimposed invasive pneumococcal disease and dies in the hospital, most likely the cause of death will be listed as "1. sepsis, 2. pneumonia, 3. other comorbidities...) but influenza will be left off, because usually when people come in with a bacterial pneumonia we don't test for influenza which may actually have facilitated the bacterial pneumonia. The same goes for people with chronic pulmonary disease, heart failure, etc. These people can have exacerbations of their diseases due to influenza and they ultimately die, but influenza may not be even noted. THE POINT BEING, (sorry for rambling, and I know you aren't talking about influenza's morbidity and mortality rates), I'd bet the actual deaths from influenza are much higher. Which leads me to the next point:

Don't forget about herd immunity. If you and I have the vaccine and it protects us from the flu, then we don't contract it and spread it to other people, including those senior citizens (our parents and grandparents) who it may or may not have been effective for this year. And there are so many other things to consider, such as loss productivity in jobs. Many papers look at things like worker hours lost per illness, with flu sometimes causing up to a week of missed work in a person, student, etc.