Who's getting the H1N1 shot?

[browna]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

As I am now a highrisker (baby under 6 mos. of age at home) I went and got my shot on Tuesday at the Stampede Grandstands. The place was maybe 1/4 full and I was in and out of there in 20 min.

Us too. Very efffcient and that looks like the place to go when they open the door to the masses.

As a bonus, Ken King was there letting us under the line-up ropes and telling us he'd take care of all the paper work when we showed him our season ticket holder card...we did have to wait for a minute as he was too busy pushing other babies and the elderly back out the doors.

[Barnes]

We are having a baby in February. Am I considered a parent with a kid under the age of 6?

It would be nice to not have to worry about getting the shot after he's born as I would probably be in the last group called.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Barnes

We are having a baby in February. Am I considered a parent with a kid under the age of 6?

It would be nice to not have to worry about getting the shot after he's born as I would probably be in the last group called.

I don't think you would be considered a parent yet.

[Byrns]

Originally Posted by Barnes

We are having a baby in February. Am I considered a parent with a kid under the age of 6?

It would be nice to not have to worry about getting the shot after he's born as I would probably be in the last group called.

My wife is due in March, and she got her shot on Monday. At the rate we're going I'll probably get mine in July.

[Rautakallio]

My Son and I have been home with H1N1 for a few days now and have been taking Tamiflu. Symptoms are nasty but not unlike any other flu and not allowed to leave the house for 7 days. Went through the Richmond Clinic and it was a very smooth process and I must say the staff there do a great job (2 hours in and out). I think it would have been a lot shorter but people ask the most ridiculous questions and start the most bizarre conversations with staff that are totally not related. Asked the Doctor about the shot and he said don't be in a rush but good idea to get it when available. Would have taken the shot over these symptoms any day.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Dion

A former health minister is saying this? Makes one wonder why he's no longer in a position like that anymore.

Why? He's simply calling it as it is? A dud.

[FurnaceFace]

It's nice to see (now that someone has actually figured out how the process should have worked from day one) how simple it is for those in the high risk groups or those in need.

[Devils'Advocate]

I don't see how he could say that H1N1 hasn't caused significant illness. Over the last few weeks my ENTIRE TEAM has been out with the flu, unlike ANYTHING I have seen in my entire working life. I've seen the seasonal flu go around and had a person out here and there for a day or two, but this was ALL my staff, at the same time, for extended periods. The one co-worker with asthma was out two weeks and went to emergency twice because of difficulty breathing. And as I said before, I don't think the flu was limited to my office place. I'm sure this was mirrored in many other places.

I think it insensitive to those that have been suffering through this to call it a 'dud'. Even though I got through it rather quickly, I'm non-plussed with it being called a 'dud'. Until a friend of Bagor ends up going to the hospital twice because she is near passing out because she can't breath, I'm sure he will continue to call this a 'dud'.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Until a friend of Bagor ends up going to the hospital twice because she is near passing out because she can't breath, I'm sure he will continue to call this a 'dud'.

It's all relative to years past.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I don't see how he could say that H1N1 hasn't caused significant illness. Over the last few weeks my ENTIRE TEAM has been out with the flu, unlike ANYTHING I have seen in my entire working life. I've seen the seasonal flu go around and had a person out here and there for a day or two, but this was ALL my staff, at the same time, for extended periods. The one co-worker with asthma was out two weeks and went to emergency twice because of difficulty breathing. And as I said before, I don't think the flu was limited to my office place. I'm sure this was mirrored in many other places.

I think it insensitive to those that have been suffering through this to call it a 'dud'. Even though I got through it rather quickly, I'm non-plussed with it being called a 'dud'. Until a friend of Bagor ends up going to the hospital twice because she is near passing out because she can't breath, I'm sure he will continue to call this a 'dud'.

It's a new strain and it is highly contagious - that is prob why you are seeing what you saw at your place of work, that doesnt mean it is more dangerous than the seasonal flu, because that was never the case..

Half my entire hockey team was out at the same time, thanks to a 3 hr bus ride with an infected person...but everyone got through it in a few days..

[Russic]

I managed to get the shot on Tuesday thanks to my little dude. All these sleepless nights have an upside I suppose!

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

It's a new strain and it is highly contagious - that is prob why you are seeing what you saw at your place of work, that doesnt mean it is more dangerous than the seasonal flu, because that was never the case..

It doesn't have to be more dangerous to cause serious implications. That half your hockey team was sick with the flu only proves that this is NOT a 'dud'. It is a very contagious flu that (a) can be spread to those that are high risk, (b) put strain on already crowded emergency rooms and pulling doctors away from scheduled surgeries and (c) cause work place shortages.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

It doesn't have to be more dangerous to cause serious implications. That half your hockey team was sick with the flu only proves that this is NOT a 'dud'. It is a very contagious flu that (a) can be spread to those that are high risk, (b) put strain on already crowded emergency rooms and pulling doctors away from scheduled surgeries and (c) cause work place shortages.

And yet there are people all over the country who know nobody who has it or had it. Why do you think your experience is the norm necessarily? Every flu season, if you looked hard enough, you could find teams, offices/workplaces, schools... whatever, that get decimated by the flu.

The same thing happened in Austrailia back in spring and summer when they had their flu season. The dire predictions ended up not surmounting to much of anything. The sad thing is, you can only cry wolf so many times before people start to not take it seriously... and one day, that could bite us in the ass big time.

[MelBridgeman]

Heard an unreal number on the radio...7000 high risk people in Vancouver's downtown east side....7000!!!!!!!

[Bagor]

One of my wife's colleagues. She's pretty shook up about the whole thing.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...31241-sun.html

[Gobsgraham]

Originally Posted by Bagor

One of my wife's colleagues. She's pretty shook up about the whole thing.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...31241-sun.html

That is the exact reason people should be afraid of this thing and do their part to protect themselves and the people they are around in public and at work. Sure the percentages are low and this whole thing has been blown out of proportion, but the fact is that this flu can kill perfectly healthy people in 5 days.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

And yet there are people all over the country who know nobody who has it or had it. Why do you think your experience is the norm necessarily? Every flu season, if you looked hard enough, you could find teams, offices/workplaces, schools... whatever, that get decimated by the flu.

The same thing happened in Austrailia back in spring and summer when they had their flu season. The dire predictions ended up not surmounting to much of anything. The sad thing is, you can only cry wolf so many times before people start to not take it seriously... and one day, that could bite us in the ass big time.

The numbers are very abnormal for this time of year though; normally we aren't even into flu season yet. In the US the number of people with H1N1 already exceeds what you'd expect to see at the peak of flu season, and Canada is heading that way too. The number of deaths this year may not be any higher than a normal flu season, mostly because many seniors seem to have some resistance to this variety and so far it has pretty much replaced other flu viruses circulating, but the number of people who get very sick is likely to be much higher (already approximately 1/3 of ICU spaces are taken up by people with H1N1). The only reason death rates aren't much higher is that the young people who are ending up in hospital or ICU from H1N1 have a better chance of surviving than the elderly that end up in hospital from other flu strains.

Even in Australia saying it didn't amount to much of anything isn't strictly true; the number of people who died wasn't any greater than normal, but their hospital system was strained to the limits by the number of sick people. I've also heard that, based on the timing and distribution of H1N1, epidemiologists expect it to be worst here than it was in the southern hemisphere.

Unfortunately responses to the pandemic appear to be mainly one extreme or another: media-driven panic or brushing it off as no big deal. IMO a response somewhere in between is more appropriate - the chance of getting H1N1 this season is very high (probably around 1 in 3) if you don't get vaccinated, and some otherwise healthy people are going to get extremely sick (probably not a lot, but I'd rather not play the odds on that). We're not in a Spanish Flu situation though - probably more like the 1958 or 1968 pandemics.

[photon]

Fyi for parents they are now saying a half dose is sufficient for kids who are healthy and ages 3 to 9. So you don't have to go back and get the second part for those kids.

As a parent of a kid that had to have two adults hold him down even after a toys r us trip bribe this makes me happy.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Bagor

One of my wife's colleagues. She's pretty shook up about the whole thing.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...31241-sun.html

That is very sad. I've talked with Dr. Fagnou several times over the years. He was a talented chemist and this is really unfortunate.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Bagor

One of my wife's colleagues. She's pretty shook up about the whole thing.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...31241-sun.html

Another reason why people should strongly consider getting the shot.