It’s time to get your flu vaccinations! Flu season starts Oct 14, but you shouldn’t wait. Ok here is the thing after vaccination it takes 2 weeks to build immunity, so if you wait and get the shot when people you know start getting sick, it’s too late. I will grant you that you can still get the flu, even if you have been vaccinated. There are dozens of strains of influenza virus floating around out there, and every July the CDC tells vaccine makers which three should be included the vaccine for the year. So, if you are unlucky and get a strain that isn’t in the shot you can still get sick, but it generally isn’t as bad a case as being completely unvaccinated. Now before you whine about way do they get it wrong, think about how many variables are involved in picking the 3 of dozens, and how one jerk on an airplane when he should be in bed can start mini-epidemic.
However, the vast majority of people who get the flu shot and claim to still get the flu, just had a bad cold. How can you tell the difference? When you have the flu you will know, cause you will lie in bed and pray to die for about 1.5 to 2 weeks, and that is a mild strain, virulent strains can give you your wish. In a normal year influenza kills 36,000 people in the US alone, the 1918 pandemic killed between 30-40 million world wide, and these weren’t the old and the sick, these were young men in excellent shape who got sick in the morning and died by nightfall. For reference the “huge” SARs out break a few years ago killed 700 people world wide…
Still don’t plan to get your flu shot? Think because everyone else did you will be protected? Well Smallpox and Polio have herd immunity between 30 to 40% , that means if 30-40% of the population is vaccinated then the viruses transmission is hindered enough that the remain population is protected too. Herd immunity for the average influenza strain is >90%, so with only 100 million doses of vaccine available (best case scenario) only 30% of the people in America will get vaccinated and unless my math is wrong 30% isn’t even a good try for 90%. (This is how a single strain can be common for years.) Still think your odds are long, influenza is not just transmitted person to person it is carried by birds, pigs, dogs, etc, and since the pigeons aren’t getting vaccinated at least where I live, ok the chances of getting the flu from a pigeon as you walk down the street are slim, but there are a lot of pigeons...
Ok enough preaching. If you do get sick get Tamiflu the second you start to feel joint pain, sure you’ll still get sick, but you’ll get better faster. Also drink lots of Gatorade, since it will keep you nourished and hydrated, since you won’t want to eat and being sick, malnourished and dehydrated is an unpleasant and dangerous combination. Yes, Pedialyte is “better”, but it tastes foul, so I prefer lemon/lime Gatorade.
What are H and N?
H and N stand for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. These are two viral surface proteins, which are used to classify the strains both by your immune system and your doctor. Neuraminadase breaks the bonds (sugar linkages) as the virus buds off the host cell. Interfere with neuraminidase (like Tamiflu does) and you hinder viral reproduction. Hemagglutinin is the surface protein that the serves to bind new host cells so they can be infected.
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