Who's getting the H1N1 shot?

[KTown]

Originally Posted by jammies

All this energy spent over a miniscule chance of dying. Most of us would probably gain far more life expectancy by eating better and exercising more.

I'm not getting the shot and I won't regret a thing if I do get the flu. Don't set up a false dichotomy in your head that the flu shot will "save" you from dying; it might save you from dying of *this flu*, but there's plenty of death out there waiting still. Safety is an illusion, and while a certain amount of thought about self-preservation is useful, the mass hysteria around this "epidemic" is way out of proportion to the threat.

This is where I think people on both sides have it all wrong.

Some people think its the end of the world and some people think its like a regular flu. They are both wrong

This is a different bug and it needs to be monitored closely at first.

There are people on here that are sharing stories about people they know that had to be hospitalized and without the help could have died.

I don't think its the fear of dying and I don't think thats the main concern of the government either. The concern is the strain it is putting on the health care systems, many people know of someone that had to be hospitalized because of this flu. Like most they survived but they needed special treatment that wasn't available at home. The concern is that if we all get sick at once and some of us need hospitalization and its not available then more people may die because of the lack of available resources. I for one got the shot because of 3 reasons, and it doesn't include that I have asthma.

1) I have a 9month old son at home
2) I am a consultant and can't afford to miss days away from working. I don't get paid when I am sick.
3) I want to help in my part to avoid hospitalization so the ones that really need it for any disease will have access to it easier.

[wooohooo]

H1N1 clinics now only for high-risk Albertans

The Alberta government has halted all H1N1 flu shot clinics across the province in the wake of a shortage of the vaccine and growing demand from citizens to access it.
When flu shot clinics resume this week, they will only be open to high-risk groups--and all others will be turned away, said Dr. Gerry Predy, senior medical officer of health with Alberta Health Services.


Opposition members said Saturday the government's about-face is medically negligent, suggesting Premier Ed Stelmach and Liepert should be held legally responsible for their actions.
But Liepert defended the province's immunization plan and said it's worked to inoculate 10 per cent of the population.
"Probably over 300,000 people in Alberta have been vaccinated, so I don't know how anyone can say it wasn't a success," said Liepert, adding Alberta's aboriginal population and most health-care workers have got their shots.

"But it was also incredibly oversubscribed and it was oversubscribed relative to the vaccine that's available. No one can be blamed for vaccine not being available," said Liepert.

When the flu shots are made available again, it will only be given to pregnant women, children six months to less than five years of age, people under 65 years of age with chronic health conditions, health-care workers and those living in isolated communities.
"We will be very strict. We will be turning people away that don't meet the criteria," said Predy.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

H1N1 clinics now only for high-risk Albertans

so is asthma a chronic health condition?

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Swarly

so is asthma a chronic health condition?

Oops I forgot to link the article

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/...162/story.html

But it wasn't in the article anyways

Found it here though
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/927.asp

Targeted H1N1 vaccination efforts will resume early next week focusing only on those at greatest risk. This includes pregnant woman; children six months to less than five years of age; people under 65 with chronic health conditions; people living in remote and isolated communities; and health care workers.

[metallicat]

That's what I'm wondering. According to that criteria, it isn't.

Edit- Whoops, I read "health" as "heart", so maybe asthma would count.

[killer_carlson]

I went yesterday and today. Yesterday I got there at 11 and they closed the line down at 10.

Today I went before 8:00 only to find out the signs that it had been cancelled. Frustrating because we have a 5 month old baby and my office has been nothing but full of sickies the last two weeks.

[transplant99]

Asthma most certainly is a chronic condition...meaning it doesn't just disappear forever one day.

And with this virus being pretty consistent in affecting the respitory system, anyone with Asthma certainly should be seeking to protect themselves from it. A 1-2 punch of the virus/asthma attack could easily become extremely dangerous and even fatal.

[metallicat]

What are we looking at in terms of duration for this outbreak? Is it going to last all winter for example, or be over in a month or something?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

What are we looking at in terms of duration for this outbreak? Is it going to last all winter for example, or be over in a month or something?

They simply do not know. I think I read that typically a strain is in circulation for 3 months or so. This one is different in that it has a such a large possibility of mutating, and rendering much of the current vaccine not as effective as it is right now.

I am no medical expert and most of my info has been gleaned from reading things and knowing a few people in the field, but beyond that I think many people have as many questions as answers right now.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Medical professionals (the same ones being cited by people here as promoting the vaccine as safe) have said that high risk people should get theirs first. Funny how people selectively choose what to listen to.

Here's a sample of the mixed message the federal govt was giving to Canadians. Another reason why people were flocking to the clinics.

Flu shot refusals spark warning - Canada's top health officials fear crisis in health care

If a majority of Canadians refuse the H1N1 vaccine, hospitals will be overrun by serious flu patients and many businesses will be strapped for staff by Christmas, Canada's chief public health officer Dr. David Butler-Jones warned Saturday.

A recent Canwest News Service poll showed 48 per cent of Canadians surveyed aren't keen to roll up their sleeves for the shot--a possibility that worries Butler-Jones.

If that happens, "we've got a big problem in ICUs (intensive-care units) being able to keep up. We would have a big problem in the health system being able to keep up over Christmas," Butler-Jones said Saturday during a visit to Calgary. "Any doctor or any nurse should give up on any Christmas holidays."

Without the flu shot, it could be common to have 30 per cent of employees out sick or at home caring for ill family members on any given day, Butler-Jones said.

"You can shut down a whole organization if you don't have the vaccine, seriously," said Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who was also in Calgary on Saturday to promote the new vaccine.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...535/story.html

[metallicat]

Say good-bye to the federal Conservatives.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Say good-bye to the federal Conservatives.

What did they do?

I understand they were the ones who secured the vaccines, but it is a provincial matter as to distribution.

Maybe i am missing something, but warning your constituents to adhere to what you have as the best advice available seems like the right thing to do.

If people ignore the warnings, then that certainly is their option, but not providing the information to begin with would be deplorable.

[metallicat]

I'm not saying my opinion has changed, but clearly people are going to put the blame squarely on them for what is happening now. It's going to hurt them. I certainly won't be changing my vote, I'm just saying what I figure will end up happening as a result of all this.

Edit- Sorry, I don't want to turn this thread into a political debate. I shouldn't have said anything.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by transplant99

This one is different in that it has a such a large possibility of mutating, and rendering much of the current vaccine not as effective as it is right now.

Where are you getting the information that the possibility of mutating is larger than other viruses?

[transplant99]

Just some articles i read some time ago.

read this one the other day, found it fascinating.

http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasur...ine_flu_vi.php

[Shazam]

I didn't see anything in that article that said that this particular strain was somehow more mutable, only that Influenza A viruses as a class are, which people have known for a long time.

I also enjoyed the part where the writer squished in some stuff about H5N1 that really has nothing to do with what's going on now.

[joe_mullen]

Originally Posted by jammies

All this energy spent over a miniscule chance of dying. Most of us would probably gain far more life expectancy by eating better and exercising more.

I'm not getting the shot and I won't regret a thing if I do get the flu. Don't set up a false dichotomy in your head that the flu shot will "save" you from dying; it might save you from dying of *this flu*, but there's plenty of death out there waiting still. Safety is an illusion, and while a certain amount of thought about self-preservation is useful, the mass hysteria around this "epidemic" is way out of proportion to the threat.

I wish people would understand that the vaccination effort isn't only about patient mortality. If anything, it's more about patient morbidity and subsequent cost to the health care system. Vaccines save money, which can then be used towards other means. Furthermore, vaccines rarely have a "personal" effect. Their effect is felt on a population level, and is very effective, as proven over and over again.

[Bagor]

Just a glance at and comparison of the headlines of Canadian and main UK newspapers re. coverage of this event.

UK.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

Canada
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
http://www.calgaryherald.com/
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/index.html

And the two national broadcasting companies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/default.stm
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/

There appears at first glance to be a significant difference in the amount of coverage that this thing is reported by the two nation's media. I suppose the question then is:

Are the Brits guilty of being nonchalant over this thing or is the Canadian media guilty of over-reporting on it to a degree of creating a hysteria effect? Or is the actual coverage this thing deserves somewhere in the middle?

[killer_carlson]

I also think that the actual testing and treatment of this in the developing world and under totalitarian regimes will be zero.

There will be a lot of deaths this year for supposed natural causes, or simply unreported because these nations dont have the money to test for it or treat. Given it will be the lower classes that will be hit hardest, these governments also don't really care in a lot of cases.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

What are we looking at in terms of duration for this outbreak? Is it going to last all winter for example, or be over in a month or something?

I can't find the link, but on one of the BC government sites, they predicted that it would peak in Octiber and fall off by the middle of November. On the American news the other day, they mentioned the peak season as lasting until American Thanksgiving.