H1n1 influenza(swine flu) opinions?

nursepwdr

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This is a very touchy topic of discussion right now.......As a triage nurse I am at the front line , deciding who may have it and who doesn't ....It's very difficult because so much is going around. Our region has went from masking someone with respiratory symptoms who has travelled out of the country to masking anyone who has fever,cough,sore throat,headache etc. ...Good god ....sometimes my entire waiting room is sitting with masks on....Not that it hurts for them not to spread it around...We have had many cases of confirmed H1N1 ....If you recall years ago thousands of people did die from simple influenza, not that influenza is in any way simple but recently we had a Internal Medicine Specialist give us a update, and she said anyone who doesn't get the flu shot is silly because if you ever actually acquired full blown influenza you'd wish you were dead !!! I do believe in universal precautions , 100% , I work everyday around sick people and I am very rarely ever sick...So I have built a strong immunity to it , and the above people are very correct, most of the young people who have died have had other risk factors which contributed to their death. As for the vaccine , not sure I will be lining up to get it , the rush put on it has made me very skeptical also and I am inclined to think they will look at it down the road and realize they missed alot when creating it !!
The debate continues on this issue , it is changing daily , of course last night they reported people who DO get the flu shot are twice as likely to get sick , so who knows what the real truth is on this matter ! We all have to make a educated decison for ourselves and hope for the best!!
 
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ZRrrr

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Okay, so... ZRrrrr has some facts. I had a friend die of H1N1 in June this year. 42 year old male Caucasian,Canadian citizen, Baptist Minister with a wife and family, no complications and it was less than three weeks and he was gone. I've had 1 family member tested 3 times because they were sure he had it. Nothing. I've had 3 family members go to the doctor for other issues, including 1 with acute leukemia, they were all found to have H1N1. All have recovered from that and other issues without issue.

So tell me where the continuity is?

We have a friend that has worked for health Canada and I am asking him for the details. Who knows what he knows. We will take the vaccination we have too many issues from asthma to ovarian cancer to chronic tonsillitis to heart conditions through our extended family and we don't want to chance anything.

Worst case scenario we head to the lake and live off the land for the winter. This is God's country after all, it is Alberta!

My opinion and experiences only no one else has responsibility for my big mouth.

My condolences to you and the family of your friend.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment; "So tell me where the continuity is?"

Seasonal flu takes lives too. I wonder if the tag line "H1N1" was not the catch phrase of the day if we would even be having this discussion about influenza related deaths!? Heck you can be a carrier and never show a symptom!

Spring will come and it will be a time of reevaluation. Should be interesting.

Can anyone tell me why the US is considering making it mandatory?? If someone doen't want it and risks thier own life, who is the Gov to say you MUST take it. Why?? If they can grant legal immunity to the manufacturers of the vaccine, what legal recourse would a family of someone who didn't take it have?

Too many questions, too much mystery.
 

Summitric

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my condolences to you and the family of your friend.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment; "so tell me where the continuity is?"

seasonal flu takes lives too. I wonder if the tag line "h1n1" was not the catch phrase of the day if we would even be having this discussion about influenza related deaths!? Heck you can be a carrier and never show a symptom!

Spring will come and it will be a time of reevaluation. Should be interesting.

Can anyone tell me why the us is considering making it mandatory?? If someone doen't want it and risks thier own life, who is the gov to say you must take it. Why?? If they can grant legal immunity to the manufacturers of the vaccine, what legal recourse would a family of someone who didn't take it have?

Too many questions, too much mystery.
so does this mean, next year the flu will be called h1n2? Lol
 

nursepwdr

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Of course there will always be horror stories and stories of missed cases , that will never end , working in the industry , we do the best we can with what we have to work with .....Just rememeber two people can have the exact same diagnosis , but each person is a individual , explanations of symptoms differ , and therefore it is not black and white , we all want the best outcome for all patients , all we can do is keep our heads up and continue the battle !!
 

ZRrrr

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Yes!

Keep in mind too that influenza viruses can mutate from person to person so even a vaccine is more or less a bit of guesswork and a shot in the dark. Vaccines are made from strains they "think" will be the predominant one. There have been a few years where the traditional flu shot was a cocktail of strains they thought would come through and not one of them did. Oops!

You can have the identified strain H1N1, and in testing of patients it can come up identified as H1N1, but there is always the possibilty a very small portion of the genetic make up has already mutated.

Gotta love viruses! Viruses and ants will rule the world one day.
 

CR500R

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I too believe this is all hyped by media, gov't , lobbyists and big business(ie; drug companies). By praying on peoples fear they will make big money. Not saying the flu is nothing to worry about, but, I do think we are more likely to die while driving our cars than from the flu. I only recieved the flu shot once in my life, and that was back 10 or so years ago when I was in the military. At that time there was talk of a big outbreak also and the military made it a mandatory vaccination, don't remember the details now, but I'll never get it again as I have never been sicker for such a long period of time , over the whole winter, as I was then. After that season the military made it an indivdual choice as to whether or not you wanted the shot after that as well because they lost so many to sick days it made things very difficult. I got lots of friends and relatives in the medical profession and not one will get the flu shot, or even recommend it, for many of the reasons others have mentioned here, that has to say something. I'll continue living the way I do, taking the neccasary precautions as usual with good hygiene and take my chances. The biggest problem I see for the population is that people today seem to feel the need to sterilize the ch!t out of their kids, etc. and there are more and more people out there today with weak immune systems, these seemingly healthy people will be the ones that fall to the flu and other viruses for no apparent reason.
LIVE LIFE ON THE EDGE....... SAY NO TO THE FLU SHOT!!!!!
 

teeroy

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I have a similar flu shot story to CR500R....when my youngest boy was a year old, he had respiritory problems, doctor strongly suggested our whole family get flu shots. we did, thinking it was for the better, the doc said if the boy got a cold or flu, it could be very serious for him. I had never gotten a flu shot before, and I rarely get sick. the odd cold and stuff, but never knock ya down sick. until I got that flu shot. I have never felt worse in my life, and had to take time off work 3 times in one winter. I had to be given IV fluids in the hospital on one occasion, I was so dehydrated from puking and chitting....never again. for anyone in my family. we'll take our chances with H1N1....
 

powerteker

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well I've got the flu today and it sucks!!:mad: I get it uaslly once a year so better now then in the winter. I've never had a flu shot nor will I ever get one.
 

Mike270412

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I have a similar flu shot story to CR500R....when my youngest boy was a year old, he had respiritory problems, doctor strongly suggested our whole family get flu shots. we did, thinking it was for the better, the doc said if the boy got a cold or flu, it could be very serious for him. I had never gotten a flu shot before, and I rarely get sick. the odd cold and stuff, but never knock ya down sick. until I got that flu shot. I have never felt worse in my life, and had to take time off work 3 times in one winter. I had to be given IV fluids in the hospital on one occasion, I was so dehydrated from puking and chitting....never again. for anyone in my family. we'll take our chances with H1N1....

Did you poop your pants???
 
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