Who's getting the H1N1 shot?

[Reggie Dunlop]

Sorry to hear Prince Fotze Jr. is under the weather. Congratulations upon the birth of Prince Blanket Fotze.

[kevman]

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/...a.html?ref=rss

The other side finally getting out?

[jammies]

A healthy child in Canada is about 20 times more likely to be killed by a car than by the H1N1 virus, Schabas said, but that isn't going to make the national news.

Hmm... where have I heard this argument before?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by HOOT

haha I love the mad panic this thing caused over nothing more than a flu.

The sad truth is that it has created a great deal of fear, obviously I'm always on the side of evidence and I think the risk vs reward for this vaccine is clearly on the side of those in risk groups to get it.

But there is a clear side effect of this flu season, the anti-vaccination movement is jumping all over this citing it as another reason why nobody should vaccinate, even their children.

I see it on facebook sadly almost every day, friends posting that 1977 video from 60 minutes on the swine flu, the stupid cheerleader who claims a vaccination turned her into a spastic, and lots of 'comments' from mostly women it seems that shows a real contempt for vaccinations.

My concern isn't much about what happens a year from now looking at the effectiveness and results of this H1N1 year, once we sit down and look at all the data. My big concern is all this nonsense in the media and the ever growing distrust of vaccinations is spreading, which has real serious consequences for the future.

All you have to do is look at the MMR scare in the UK, all the preventable deaths/complications in children caused by a horribly flawed study done by a discredited and now shamed scientist.

I think thats the big underlying problem with this H1N1 season, because even though a lot here are not getting the shot, I doubt most of them do it because they mistrust vaccinations as a whole, at least especially when it comes to protecting children and the elderly.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Thor

My concern isn't much about what happens a year from now looking at the effectiveness and results of this H1N1 year, once we sit down and look at all the data. My big concern is all this nonsense in the media and the ever growing distrust of vaccinations is spreading, which has real serious consequences for the future.

All you have to do is look at the MMR scare in the UK, all the preventable deaths/compications in children caused by a horribly flawed study done by a discredited and now shamed scientist.

I think that's the big underlying problem with this H1N1 season, because even though a lot here are not getting the shot, I doubt most of them do it because they mistrust vaccinations as a whole, at least especially when it comes to protecting children and the elderly.

Agreed, that this might have serious implications for the future.

I honestly believe that the whole thing has been nothing more than a capacity building exercise and measurement. I still can't fathom how they managed to communicate the risk from it given they had a full set of data from the Southern Hemisphere for reference.

The whole problem is that although on the one hand it has been a useful exercise, on the other, with the fear communicated by the government and the projected end results to be much less than what they projected there is a very real possibility that in flu seasons to come should a virus present itself of a more credible and serious risk the message communicated might be greeted with a certain degree of skepticism. WHO needs to go back to its old definition of pandemic and call these things in the future for what they are ... epidemics.

At least, the lessons of this season will make it useful to build capacity for seasons to come.

Fotze congrats on the little'un and all the best for the older kid.

[HOOT]

A healthy child in Canada is about 20 times more likely to be killed by a car than by the H1N1 virus, Schabas said, but that isn't going to make the national news.

Do not let your children outside your house. They may DIE!!!!!

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Thor

My concern isn't much about what happens a year from now looking at the effectiveness and results of this H1N1 year, once we sit down and look at all the data. My big concern is all this nonsense in the mediaand the ever growing distrust of vaccinations is spreading, which has real serious consequences for the future.

I fear most that when a dangerous pandemic does appear, people won't believe in the danger because they will be tired of hearing about the worst case scenario that never pans out.

'H1N1 is no more dangerous than the normal flu, but high-risk groups should worry about it and get vaccinated'. That is the message that SHOULD have been disseminated. Instead, we heard about overwhelmed hospitals, extremely contagious spread, and danger of death in normally healthy age groups.

Expecting the media not to take these already overblown claims and pump them up in the Black Death of the 21st century was so hopelessly naive, you wonder how the people behind this strategy ever got into positions of authority. While I understand that the intent was to slow the spread of the disease thru a massive vaccination campaign, it should have been obvious from the beginning that using fear as a main motivator would only lead to debacle, suspicion, and the weakening of that motivator when it is actually needed.

[Sly]

I had H1N1 for 3 days... gatorade and tylenol = fast cure.

[Rhettzky]

I don't think you can determine anything solid from these results after a huge vaccination campaign. I mean concerns were made known, a vaccine was made available (to at least 30% of people so far) and emergency care was made available. There is no denying the number of people admitted to them either. Maybe it was a big fear mongering campaign or maybe lives were saved by being prepared. I'm not just talking about the vaccine here, there was mass doses of tamiflu ordered, extra beds opened, those breathing units put on stand-by and the public was well aware of the risks, symptoms and what to do when you got them. And despite all that there was and will continue to be deaths.

It's hard to draw any conclusions after prevention was practiced.

[Boblobla]

The problem is that since everyone thinks this flu is the 'Flu to end all Flus" they are cramming into ER waiting rooms and standing in long lines to get a shot. Huge crowds are how these things spread.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

The problem is that since everyone thinks this flu is the 'Flu to end all Flus" they are cramming into ER waiting rooms and standing in long lines to get a shot. Huge crowds are how these things spread.

True enough. But how can you determine that getting your @$$ to ER isn't what saved a boat load of lives to begin with?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

True enough. But how can you determine that getting your @$$ to ER isn't what saved a boat load of lives to begin with?

I guess. I just look at it a different way. If every parent of a 6 year old with a runny nose and a cough races to the ER 30mins after their kid develops the symptons because all the news talks about is the BIG BAD H1N1 that is a contribution to the problem, not a solution. Holy runon sentence batman...

For sure if the fever doesn't break in a day or if your child is having more sever symptoms then take them to your family doctor/walking clinic/ER but not right away. There is no way this thing will be as deadly as the amount of media coverage it has warranted.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by fotze

You wouldn't believe how many barely sick kids at the ACH waiting room, running around playing the video games, but they would bring the whole family, 4 siblings and grandma had to come and sit in the ultimate germ pool, I was getting angry at how stupid it was, wait in the car for christs sake.

See, that is what I am talking about, potentially exposing an entire family when the kid with the runny nose might not even have the flu.

[Kipper is King]

Well, my doctor is pretty well certain I have H1N1. I'm approaching two weeks of being sick, and it's not fun. I have bronchitis, but hopefully my two inhalers and antibiotics will prevent pneumonia. A friend of mine wasn't so lucky- she's been bed ridden for two weeks, and one of her lungs is filled with fluid.

[Suave]

Interactive Map showing number of cases and deaths from H1N1 across Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1352013/

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Suave

Interactive Map showing number of cases and deaths from H1N1 across Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1352013/

So what is that .000003% of people in Canada have died from this flu up til Oct 31st? Then you have to think how many of those 100 were sick before.

What fotze had to go through was a joke probably waiting in line behind kids that weren't even sick. I blame the government, media and fear mongers that told everyone to get the shot, or else! What a joke this whole thing is!!!

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by HOOT

So what is that .000003% of people in Canada have died from this flu up til Oct 31st? Then you have to think how many of those 100 were sick before.

What fotze had to go through was a joke probably waiting in line behind kids that weren't even sick. I blame the government, media and fear mongers that told everyone to get the shot, or else! What a joke this whole thing is!!!

Everyone should get the shot. If people have the shot, then they won't get sick and they won't fill up the ERs. Oi. I don't see how crowded ERs are are argument AGAINST getting the vaccine.

But if you want to blame Harper for this, I'm fine with that.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Everyone should get the shot. If people have the shot, then they won't get sick and they won't fill up the ERs. Oi. I don't see how crowded ERs are are argument AGAINST getting the vaccine.

But if you want to blame Harper for this, I'm fine with that.

I've never gotten the seasonal flu shot, why is this any different really?

The crowded ERs are because of the fear mongering everyone decided to put on this flu. If it was treated like the seasonal flu then we wouldn't have parents running kids to the hospital at first cough or sniffle.

I'm not blaming one person I'm blaming the group of people who made this thing worse than it should have been. It was very poorly handled by all parties promoting the shot and scaring people into basically thinking they will die without it. It was a joke when news first broke, it's a joke now.

[Zevo]

My wife's a nurse and manages the office of an eye surgeon in B.C.. She ordered enough doses for her staff early on before the hysteria and shotages were known. She had a few extra doses so brought mine home for me. I got my flu shot while watching a Flames game in HD on my 50 in. plazma while drinking a nice australian shiraz.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Zevo

My wife's a nurse and manages the office of an eye surgeon in B.C.. She ordered enough doses for her staff early on before the hysteria and shotages were known. She had a few extra doses so brought mine home for me. I got my flu shot while watching a Flames game in HD on my 50 in. plazma while drinking a nice australian shiraz.

I hope you feel bad when children and pregnant women are dying all around you! Shame on you!