H1N1 "Panicdemic", are you getting the shot?

[Anne]

Hi Anne - can't recall exactly which book(s) on that 1918 epidemic I've read over the years - there are plenty listed on Amazon (I used 'influenza pandemic of 1918' which brought up plenty of hits!); the one pictured below called:  A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America 1918-1920 by Dorothy Pettit was published in 2008 - have not read that one but may add to my 'wish list' - 4 good ratings there.

Dave

That is not the same book (thanks for looking) but I will use your search terms andwill recognize the cover as soon as I see it.
This is uncanny!  H1N1 virusnow and in 1918.  Bacterial pneumonia now and in 1918!  The first time the H1N1 virus was mentioned my doctor asked if I had had the pneumonia shot and I said, "Yes."  I'm wondering now if there is more than 1 kind of bacteria that causes pneumonia?

Susan, I am going to do exactly the same thing you are planning to do, i.e., hibernate!  Tonight I had a chance to readthe web site for our county.  It says, and I'm not kidding, that people ages 24 - 49 who have diabetes or asthma, etc. qualify for getting the vaccine early.  Not one word was mentioned about people older than that with the same chronic problems.

 

[drogulus]

     It's not entirely on topic but there was a good fiction film about the 1918-19 epidemic based on a Horton Foote play. I think it was actually a lightly fictionalized version of events taken from the Foote family history. Anyway it's called 1918 and it's from the mid-'80s. I'd like to see it again.

     

[SonicMan46]

That is not the same book (thanks for looking) but I will use your search terms andwill recognize the cover as soon as I see it.
This is uncanny!  H1N1 virusnow and in 1918.  Bacterial pneumonia now and in 1918!  The first time the H1N1 virus was mentioned my doctor asked if I had had the pneumonia shot and I said, "Yes."  I'm wondering now if there is more than 1 kind of bacteria that causes pneumonia?

Hello Anne - yes, I've also had the 'pneumonia shot' - actually specific for just one type of bacterial pneumonia, i.e. Pneumococcus (although the vaccine contains substances from nearly two dozen different strains of that bacterium - made from 'killed' bacteria, so not a risk of 'catching' pneumonia).  But, there are numerous other causes of pneumonia, the usual culprits are viral and/or bacterial organisms and many different types exist; there are also less common infections, such as fungal diseases; typicall, the more uncommon ones infect patients who have depressed immune responses, such as those w/ AIDS.

Well, I did not think that the book shown was the one you (or I) had read since the publication date is fairly new, but looks like one that may interest both of us.  Again, hope that you're feeling better - Dave 

[karlhenning]

     It's not entirely on topic but there was a good fiction film about the 1918-19 epidemic based on a Horton Foote play. I think it was actually a lightly fictionalized version of events taken from the Foote family history. Anyway it's called 1918 and it's from the mid-'80s. I'd like to see it again.

My Foote!

[drogulus]

  Tonight I had a chance to readthe web site for our county.  It says, and I'm not kidding, that people ages 24 - 49 who have diabetes or asthma, etc. qualify for getting the vaccine early.  Not one word was mentioned about people older than that with the same chronic problems.

 

     You should be in the next group. Everything I have read indicates that younger people are at greater risk. The cutoff date I've seen is 1950. If you were born after that date you have little or no immunity to this virus. Still I would think your condition would put you in position to get a shot before healthier people of your own age.

     I probably shouldn't get the shot right away, especially considering the vaccine shortage. From a purely epidemiological perspective it's a waste to do that. When it becomes available to the general public I'll go down to the Walgreens and get it.

     BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Monday announced the H1N1-related death of a 26-year-old Dukes County resident. The individual had no known underlying health conditions. This brings the total number of deaths related to H1N1 in Massachusetts to 11.

     
     

[drogulus]

     I just saw on the news that deaths among children spiked this week. They said 90% of the total H1N1 deaths are young people, whereas with the seasonal flu 90% of deaths are among older people.

[Tomo]

I'm assuming I have the H1N1 virus as I type, although I haven't been tested, so will have no need for the vaccine.  However, I would've got it if it had been available to me earlier.  The assumption is based on the fact that my eldest daughter just got over it (confirmed by lab tests) and the rest of us became sick shortly thereafter.  We're all pretty much doing well now though.

[springrite]

Vanessa, myself and the nanny are getting the shot on Wednesday. I will feel much relieved for the safety of Kimi after that!

[drogulus]

     The NYTimes reports that H1N1 deaths in the U.S. have reached ~4,000. The epidemic is accelerating in a predictable way. There was an early estimate that deaths could go as high as 90,000 but now they think it will be less than that, closer to to 30-40,000.

[secondwind]

I've heard of the first friend of a friend who has died from H1N1.  That brings it all much closer, and raises my concern level for the children of friends of mine who have been diagnosed. 

[SonicMan46]

Yep - I got the H1N1 shot yesterday - did not even have a sore arm the next day (unlike the regular seasonal flu shot!).

I work in a medical center and am around radiology residents often - most are in their late 20s or early 30s, married and w/ kids - quite common for them to be sick, so am relieved; plus, I had to get one anyway (unless there was a contraindication).   

[Chosen Barley]

I've never had a flu shot - forgot the last time I had the flu and think the vaccine is more dangerous than the flu.

Friend for life.

[SonicMan46]

Friend for life.

RE:   I've never had a flu shot - forgot the last time I had the flu and think the vaccine is more dangerous than the flu.

Well, the 'bolded' statement above is ridiculous!  Getting a flu shot is pretty much harmless vs. the potential of the complications from the flu, including DEATH!  Whether one wants to get a flu shot is a completely personal decision (although for some like myself in the medical profession, it is a requirement!), but please don't dissuade others who may be at risk of the potential complications of this usually 'benign' disease from getting the 'shot' based on your complete ignorance - 

[springrite]

After the nanny and I getting the shot, the rest of the family (except my mom who is often allergic to many many things, and my sister who may not be advise to take it due to her condition --we will see) will get it next week.

[drogulus]

And you know this how?  It has not been adequately tested because of the rush to get it out.

You can get this vaccine if you wish, I won't, and I hope it is safe - but I am healthy, I do not have a compromised immune system and am more certain that if I did get the "swine" flu, I would not die than what dangers this vaccine may present. 

And you can call this "Luddite" if you choose, it sure won't change my mind or increase my respect for your opinion(s).

     You don't know how to assess risk. You didn't live through the polio and smallpox epidemics so you think it's a movie and the people who die aren't real. Fortunately vaccinations works pretty well even if a few..ahem...unenlightened individuals don't cooperate. You just vaccinate around them, protecting the undeserving along with everyone else. Still, some kinds of stupidity are evil IMO. If you wanted to you could inform yourself about these matters and reduce the danger you pose to others and yourself.

     About 4,000 people have died so far in the U.S. due to this disease. In the next couple of weeks that number will go up sharply as the epidemic picks up steam. The news out of Canada is illuminating. It's hard to get the real numbers here, but if the Canadian example holds everything is snowballing. There are still quite a few unvaccinated people, a large population for the disease to infect with few firebreaks to slow it down.

but I am healthy, I do not have a compromised immune system

     The chances are you have no immunity to this virus. Unless you're older, much older than you appear.
 
     Now I see you're almost the same age as me, so you probably do have some immunity. I think you should try to set a better example, though.

[drogulus]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — H1N1 swine flu killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, including more than 500 children, U.S. health officials said Thursday.

Better data than was previously available shows the flu pandemic has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and put 98,000 in the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

     

[Lilas Pastia]

The internet can be a wonderful thing, but one of the bad side-effects is it puts crack-pots on a level playing field with true experts, particularly in science.  This is why it has become a common belief the measles vaccine causes autism, even though there is no more evidence for this than for the hypothesis that listening to Haydn causes pancreatic cancer. 

As mentioned by several above, No vaccine is 100% effective, the reason they work is that if a certain fraction of the population is vaccinated epidemics will fizzle rather than grow and people will not be exposed to the disease.  People have to have enough community feeling to be vaccinated because they are protecting their fellow citizens in addition to themselves. 

Very true. But there must be a cause for the hesitation of so many to get the vaccine. In some countries, a sizable proportion of
the medical personnel fear it more than the disease (33% in france, almost half in Hong Kong). That's from  a September(Blog.  . As the number of cases mounts daily, that proportion is likely to go down, though.

In our family we're not getting it because we are already sick (bronchitis, laryngitis). By the time the antibiotics have been eliminated from our system, the virus will probably have mutated already.