For Those Swine Flu Wusses Out There!

I can never understand how people can tell a swine flu from any other kind of flu just by a quick glance. It boggles the mind. Such inexpensive advertising for those that are profiting from this all.

It's amazing how a few motivated people can literally turn black into white by stretching & twisting the truth about something to the point where others avalanche the lie. I'll bet we could even convince people that cow farts hurt the world unless people pay us more tax money using this formula. Imagine that. Oh wait...

 

I'm considered in the 'at risk' groups here in the UK. I've already had my annual flu injection, but the swine flu vaccine wasn't in GP surgeries at that time, so I'm going back this Saturday to have the swine flu injection.

I'm with germ-ridden university students all day - they are veritable germ factories!

 

I had a mild case of swine flu which lasted 3-4 days. While my immune system was busy with that I picked up a sinus/inner ear infection that lasted 2 weeks. Any head movement equaled wanting to barf so even if you get a mild case the other infections that you can pick up while your body is fighting it can really suck!

 

As soon as we got there my partner, son and I all came down with the Swine flu within about 2 hours of each other. Hit us all like a ton of bricks! Fever (103 & up), aches, chills, hot sweats, nausea, the big D, shallow breathing, racking cough, the whole 9 yards! Got quarantined to the senior village guest house for 4 days before we could manage driving back home. Missed the whole family reunion/b-day shindig.

 

As someone getting the vaccination in less than an hour, I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

 

I've decided not to get the shot based on my own reasons. However a friend of mine, who is a doctor and heads one of the medical divisions at our cantons trauma hospitals, told me a couple of days ago that it's been discovered in Norway (or maybe Sweden...I forget) that the virus has mutated. A baby had died in Bern, becoming the first fatality in Switzerland, and he was urging me to "protect" myself by getting it. He was also telling me how the emergancy room was overwhelmed at times by people rushing to the hospital at the first sneeze. When I asked him how many of them were actually sick with H1N1 he said only a few.
My personal take on this is that it's being blown way out of proportion. The media doesn't help any. Here, up until the death of the baby was reported, people were going about their daily routines with not much concern. There are signs posted reminding the public to cover their mouth an nose when they sneeze or cough but that was about it. There had been some articles written concerning how people returning from other countries would be bringing the virus back with them and how schools were most likely be the area where the virus would hit the hardest. That didn't happened. It appears that there was no significant rise in H1N1 illnesses reported.
After the news concerning the baby? I see people walking around wearing masks. Some stores, mostly pharmacies, have a box of masks at the entrance for people to put on when they come into the store. People who normally are sane acting are rushing to the hospital over a cough. It's lunacy.
If you're part of the at risk groups then of course you should get the vaccine but I don't plan on succumbing to hysteria caused by media hype.

 

I am in a couple of the 'at risk' groups, as stated by the UK's NHS. I had my annual flu injection a few weeks ago - and had the swine flu jab yesterday. It makes sense for MY CIRCUMSTANCES. My husband will also be having the 2 jabs (tomorrow) simply because he lives with someone in 'at risk' categories.

WOW... does my arm ACHE.... I usually have a little stiffness with the annual flu vaccine - but this is really PAINFUL!

 

I'm also in several risk groups, so it's not optional for me. I have a compromised immune system, so my husband is also trying to get the shot; our county health department ran out until next week.

I was once young and able to fight off anything that came my way. For many years, I worked in an environment I'd describe as "a viral soup": middle schools, for the most part, but also with young ones who drooled and did other things to leave their germs behind. I almost never got sick! I had flu only twice that I can remember in a 30-year teaching career. Not long after I retired, I was diagnosed with a condition that compromised my immunity- and had to take meds that suppressed it further. While I'm not on those drugs any longer, I still must get vaccinated with non-live vaccines.

 

I'm also at a job where I'm "at risk" also. I got both my regular flu shot and the H1N1.

In our area the number of swine flu cases has seemed to go down just recently (past week). But there were a decent number of confirmed cases of swine flu and an even larger of suspected cases that weren't confirmed, yet treated as such by the emergency room/doctors office. It seemed that the doctors offices were confirming patients early on...but as the numbers grew it seemed like they stopped confirming cases.

So far...I haven't had any form of flu this year. My kids did have mild cases which led to sinus and ear infections. They were treated for their symptoms and it eventually cleared up, though it was persistent in our oldest child. My wife wasn't so lucky. She developed (confirmed) pneumonia. With the pneumonia came a persistent cough and much pain within the muscles between her ribs. While bending over she coughed and fractured a rib. You could imagine the pain with the cough and pneumonia still present. About two weeks after she was still guarded while coughing, lifting, etc. She was standing in the kitchen while she sneezed. She goes tomorrow for an MRI for a suspected disc problem in her thoracic area. I know it's just a sneeze...but a sneeze packs quite a wallop of energy, especially when the body is guarded to begin with. The energy has got to exhaust somewhere...in my wifes case it was in the spinal region.

I know that this is just a bunch of unfortunate circumstances. But that doesn't mean I don't feel bad for her...and I'm sure she would wish none of this ever happened. My wife and kids didn't have the same opportunity that I did for either flu shot, they were unable to get either. But, when I'm handed an opportunity to make an informed decision regarding my health or the health of someone in my family I wouldn't hesitate to get protected.

I also understand and wouldn't hold any ill feelings if I got a flu shot and still ended up contracting a different strain of the flu. I try to live within reasonable expectations that I can reason. All I can do is try to become informed to the best of my ability and then make a decision that is best for my circumstance.

dan

 

I am required to get the vaccine as I work at a private school. Unfortunately 12 boarding students were quarantined a couple of weeks after school started because of it. Though after about 3 days we never heard anything. Kinda put a strain on the kitchen for a couple of days as we had to have a special meal made for them each day.