Since the winter is getting closer, so is the cold season. Last year, the swine flu became the topic of conversations around most of the US with rumors and facts floating around. Now, we have commercials about H1N1 vaccines and nasal sprays.
The Swine Flu has begun it's journey again through children to adults. So should you get vaccinated? Well, it's a personal decision but heres a story for you to think about.
Here's a short version. Check out the link in the title for the full story. Tiffany is sixteen years old and came down with a cough and dizziness one day. She went to the doctors and was sent home. She returned a few days later to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia and sent to the Children's Hospital in Oakland. She has spent over one hundred days there where she is fighting to survive.
So, should you get the vaccine? Well, that's still up to you.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
22 comments:
At least she survived.
"Most of the kids with H1N1 recover and go home," Williams says."
Quite true. The swine flu seems deadlier because deaths from it is what the media is reporting. In truth, the "regular" flu can be deadly as well. It's a fatal flaw in perception.
It's a good idea to get the vaccine for both kinds of flu. I got both the nasal and the needle vaccines not too long ago.
I got the nasal spray yesterday, but not really because I was actively seeking it. My doctor called me and told me I was a "candidate" and should get it. I never really cared for a vaccine because I think swine flu (like many other things that capture the media's attention) is mostly hype. People have died from swine flu, but so many more people have had it and gotten over it in a matter of days. It even says so on that information paper that the nurse gave me after I got my vaccine:
"Many people get the swine flu and get over it in a few days, much like a seasonal flu."
i should be getting the needle vaccine because i am at greater risk of contracting the flu because of preexisting conditoins, and because my doctor told me today told me i should.
i agree with kevin about the misconception about swine flu and the normal flu. i also do believe that if people are at risk of contracting things such as the flu more easily than others they should get vaccinated, but not everyone needs to get vaccinated.
what happened to the girl is tragic, and there was also that story about the high school football player with a very similar case (which i personally find to be aired way to much on the news channels recently), but most of this is just the media scarring us.... or so i believe.
It is true that H1N1 is less dangerous than the common cold in terms of death count etc, but the hype is not hype for everyone because there was a case in Canada where an athletic boy was playing ice hockey one day and died of H1N1 the next.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but I heard and read articles that suggest that H1N1 is IRONIC! Yes, tis true. H1N1 is extremely dangerous in people who have extremely amazing immune systems, i.e. strong, healthy teenagers. An extremely effective immune system will go into overdrive and go symptoms galore and pretty much panic and shut down the body in the process=death. A less efficient immune system will not be able to react as "efficiently" and the H1N1 will go under the radar, so to speak. A person with such a response will be fine since the virus is not actually altogether that deadly.
If this is true, that means two things. First, the H1N1 is different from the common flu in that it kills younguns with strong immune systems and the regular flu kills mainly those with weak immune systems. Second )my own hypothesis) having strong immune systems to work with which cannot destroy the strain translates to a high evolutionary advantage for the H1N1 and we could possibly end up seeing I-Am-Legend-type viruses.
Check this out (Proof):
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/05/06/H1N1-flu-may-induce-a-cytokine-storm/UPI-50901241584708/
I agree with William. Sure, swine flu can be looked upon as hype. But I would rather see it as hype with good reason. Swine flu has the potential to be extremely detrimental, and I for one think that it's a good thing it is overrepresented and that the government is taking measure to ensure our safety. Better safe than sorry, I always say. I got both my seasonal and h1n1 flu vaccines as soon as they were available just to get it out of the way.
Supposedly, my mom, a doctor, said there was an idea to dispense the vaccine through the air vents at school, so that everyone would be vaccinated, but the idea was scrapped because of concerns about potential allergies.
I need to get a shot beacause this is a tragic story to hear! I like the ending of your report because it might just push people (like myself0 to get it in to a number one priority to get a shot! Noone should suffer like this so everyone should get it done, but you are right it is our own decision
I'm taking a leaf out of Kevin's book and quoting the text
"She returned a few days later to the hospital and was diagnosed with pneumonia" what does this story have to do with swine flu... she had pneumonia
Oh, whoops, I meant to add that she actually had swine flu the entire time...sorry guys!
I hate shots and so I've been avoiding getting the vaccine. My doctors office doesn't have it, but when they get it I'm going to get the vaccine. Since I have asthma my doctor said it was probably better for me to get it. I agree though the media always seems to make things seem worse then they are, and only show the things such as the number of deaths that the flu has caused. That's just media. I trust that the doctors will be honest to get the truth across to people that they see in their office.
Justine Roscoe
Although i realize that the swine flu is potentially very dangerous, i think in the situation illustrated in the news article only depicted the most extreme form of what could happen to someone with swine flu.
But either way, it wouldn't hurt just to be safe and get a flu shot.
-molly cheng
I personally don't want to get the H1N1 shot...I think the media exaggerates all the crazy intense stories to make it seem super duper killer but really it's just like the common flu. People at Aragon have the swine flu and are fine, so it's totally a personal decision!
Noelle, although it isn't likely that you'll die from the flu, do you want to be sick anyways?
I took the shot, so that I can avoid the inconvenience to be ill. It's not the best feeling in the world.
I agree with Preston. Who truly knows whether or not the media is exaggerating the Swine Flu epidemic, all I really know is that it exists and that people have died from it. Personally, my family and I are going to be getting the H1N1 vaccine, just to be safe. And in response to Kevin's comment about his mother stating there is a rumor that we should just put it through the air ventilation at school, I think that is completely unnecessary, and a step over the boundaries. Getting the H1N1 vaccination is completely a personal choice. No one can force you to get it, and especially not schools. People know the effects, and the potential risks of swine flu, and with that information they need to make their own decisions. The fact that there is even a slight idea of just forcing something upon me at school kind of creeps me out, makes me a little uncomfortable.
Some people who know of this comic might hate me for sharing it, but that's OK.
http://xkcd.com/574/
It's a parody on the Swine Flu hype, overexaggerated, I hope..
Yeah...my mom keeps bringing up the shot and it doesn't really occur to me the importance of it. Some people are less hyped up over the swine flu as others.
In my condition, I guess it is recommended to get it since I don't have a spleen....everytime I get a fever I am "supposed" to go to the hospital JUST IN CASE I have a virus but every time I've gotten the flu..nothing seriously bad has occured. I guess it really does depend on what your personal decision is and how serious you perceive the epidemic (ranging from not so serious to extremely deathly) x_x
-Emily Niemann
I think that if you're going to get shot for the Swine Flu, you should get one for the seasonal flu as well. Both are spreading fast, but I feel like the Swine Flu is getting much more attention than the seasonal flu, even though the seasonal flu kills far more people annually than Swine Flu has so far.
"No one can force you to get it, and especially not schools."
Actually, Jane, getting some vaccines are required for schools.
http://www2.sduhsd.net/tp/immunization.html
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/Documents/IMM-231.pdf
Yes Kevin, certain vaccines are required in order to attend Aragon. We need shots for polio,Measles, Mumps, Rubella,and Hepatitis B. But when I wrote that no should be able to force us to get the vaccines, I meant the H1N1 shot. That is the virus that people are contemplating the true effects of, and that is the vaccine that SHOULD be our choice to get.
I hate questioning someone's personal choices, but I don't see why one wouldn't get the shot (unless you're allergic to chicken eggs). The effects of the flu are obvious - you get sick.
"But when I wrote that no should be able to force us to get the vaccines, I meant the H1N1 shot."
Why doesn't this extend to other vaccines?
Swine flu is kind of over hyped, in my opinion, but with good reason. It seems as if everyone is dropping like flies due to swine flu. I would get vaccinated but I'm worried about the side effects of the vaccine.
Two weeks ago I went to the hospital to the hospital in search of the regular flu vaccine and they were completely out of the regular and swine flu vaccines. Next couple days later, I got sick. Really sick. Thankfully it wasn't swine flu, but swine flu is no joke.
Post a Comment