H1N1 vaccine
Dec. 29th, 2009 04:13 pm![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
The swine flu
Dec. 4th, 2009 07:31 pmThe amount of vaccine available (in the US) is 78 million doses. Some states are allowing non-high risk groups to be vaccinated.
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So many sick children at the Urgent Care place (Nighttime Pediatrics is the name, but they do adults also). I feel really sorry for those poor children.
The news from CDC about H1N1 is NOT good. 8% of all visits are for Influenza-like lllness or Pneumonia. 40% of people with symptoms have flu (which is really high, they usually see seasonal variation in this, but the yearly high is usually in the 20% range). The % of all deaths due to Flu or Pneumonia has exceeded the epidemic threshold.
I did not feel it appropriate to share the FluView diagrams with any of the parents there who were worried about their children. Even (or especially) the parents that I discussed MS Word and computer systems with in an effort to not be bored stiff.
More H1N1 and risk of Guillain-Barré
Oct. 29th, 2009 08:46 amDuring past pandemics, a third or more of the entire population has got flu, and the risks of flu killing you or causing nasty problems such as Guillain-Barré syndrome are far greater than those of the vaccines.
Fears from the 1970s
The 1976 vaccine caused around 10 cases per million vaccinated. Even ordinary flu vaccines, however, are thought to cause one extra case of Guillain-Barré per million, in addition to the 10 to 20 per million who get Guillain-Barré some other way every year.
Does this mean it is safer not getting vaccinated? Absolutely not. First, there is the risk of swine flu killing you. Second, what few people know is that flu itself is far more likely to cause Guillain-Barré than any flu vaccine.
A 2009 study found that out of every million people who get flu, between 40 and 70 develop Guillain-Barré. So your best chance of avoiding Guillain-Barré is to get vaccinated, a conclusion backed by a 2007 study.
The vaccine risk is also diminishing. Cases of Guillain-Barré in the US have fallen 20 per cent since 1996, and cases reported after flu vaccination have fallen by 60 per cent. Intriguingly, this coincides with a fall in infections by the food poisoning bacterium Campylobacter, thanks to improved meat hygiene. Guillain-Barré usually follows infections, and Campylobacter is the main cause. It is also endemic among chickens, and flu vaccines are grown in chicken eggs. So the occasional contamination of flu vaccines with Campylobacter proteins might explain the link with Guillain-Barré, according to a 2004 study.
(From the New Scientist)
You may return to your previously scheduled status of alarm or calm.
H1N1 update
Oct. 23rd, 2009 01:43 pmThe vaccine (FluMist H1N1) will be available for children 6 months to 24 years at three high schools on Wednesday the 28th of Oct. My child will be at the high school closest to me. I'm sure that the line will be tremendous.
Emily's school (of 550 students) had 85 out sick today.
My back hurts.
Oct. 2nd, 2009 04:24 pmSeveral people I know are mourning the loss of an SCA fighter to H1N1.
I yelled at my daughter today. Our disagreement just kept escalating.
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My studying time was spent on tasks for my PTA committee. I won't get that back.
I was afraid that I had overstepped the levels of privacy appropriate for a blog in my comments on another person's blog.
I got a rejection from the job I applied to. I know it was a long shot, but it's still a rejection.
Our oven is still broken. It's just a low-level background annoyance.
My doctor will have flu shots on Oct. 6. Flu is widespread in the Southeastern region of the US and isolated states in the Midwest and Southwest. That includes Illinois and Kansas, but not Massachusetts or Missouri. 99% of all Flu cases are H1N1.
Tonight is my first Spanish class of this year.
My obsession, H1N1 flu
Aug. 21st, 2009 11:21 amTransmission is decreasing in the Southern Hemisphere (with few isolated places that are increasing (mostly those that started seeing infection later)). Transmission is falling in Europe, especially Britain. Transmission is rising in those areas of Asia that have a monsoon season, India, Bangladesh, etc. Transmission is steadily quite high in Central America.
We will see how the back-to-school season goes in the Northern Hemisphere, especially Mexico, the US and Canada.
We're mostly done.
May. 27th, 2009 09:33 amAnd in the end, we will have had substantial immunity built up in certain parts of the country. (Practically none in my local region, however).