Quote:
Originally Posted by suesiegel
First of all we will be getting a flu shot.
As we all know, flu is a virus so it rapidly changes. Invariably, after we take the shot they report OOPS, the current vaccine is only ///% effective. You should get a sheet as to what they delivered. I'm not certain if they all deliver the same shot or if you can look for a particular one.
If, I recall, it takes four weeks after the shot to develop as much immunity as you will get from the shot and then it does fall off-the reason why if you decide to get a flu shot you need to get it every year.
Today, we have far better medical car and we are not living in trenches BUT, more people died from the flu in WWI then died from all combat injuries.
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First of all, getting a flu shot every year is great advice, especially for those over 50. And for the record, since this myth recurs every year, YOU CANNOT GET THE FLU FROM A FLU SHOT. PERIOD. NOT POSSIBLE. The worst thing you get from a flu shot is a sore arm for a day or two.
Second, the strain of influenza doesn't really "rapidly change", although it is different each year. The OOPS is a result of CDC missing a strain. Each spring they send out teams to SE Asia, Australia, China etc. to get nasal samples from the population, then they "predict" , usually 3 strains they expect to hit the US in the winter. Over the summer the vaccine manufacturer's produce this trivalent vaccine (sometimes it is quadravalent and even pentavalent) and then it is distributed in August. All our vaccine is manufactured in Europe, the last American pharmaceutical house to make the vaccine, Wyeth, stopped making it in 1997 having essentially been put out of the vaccine business by lawyers (and idiotic juries). This process is not 100% foolproof, hence the OOPS. The last OOPS, about 6 years ago, was a strain of swine flu that did not emerge until April in Mexico, so it was too late to include it in the mix. Other times they just "guess" wrong. Overall, they do the best job possible
Thirdly, millions died in the 1918-19 flu pandemic, but most of the deaths were due to secondary pneumonia in the pre-antibiotic era. The same epidemic today would have a far lower death toll.