very timely, thanks! my father has had a rash for 4 years that turned into a blistering skin disease this summer. it's called a bullous disease, and several dermatologists have been at a loss to help him. we have an appointment with a specialist, but if that doesn't work, dr. holick will be next on my list!
vaccines have controlled a lot of horrible diseases from the past. ignore them at everyones risk. i'm not saying they are completely safe, or that all of them are necessary. i realize big farms would like to create diseases that they already have vaccines for and want mandated. but a cautious, scientific approach is crucial.
Well.... ....I believe that's what I said. Listen, I don't think anyone would feign to argue taking the flu shot isn't without risk. One can site VERY RARE incidents of reaction, and/or harmful side affects. BUT... The other truth is on a yearly cycle, a huge number of people are given flu shot's and pneumonia vaccines, with no ascertainable negative reaction. On balance for caregivers of people with compromised immune systems, or people at greater risk, I think the flu shot helps far more often than it hurts. I have forgotten or become too busy and missed many years of flu shots. I haven't gotten on this year yet, and may not. I surely would support people making their own decision in this regard. But I would say, for the vast, vast majority of people, a flu shot can be beneficial. While there are cases of adverse reactions, resulting in death, we take similar risk with nearly anything we introduce into our bodies. What modern drug advertised on television for conditions as harmless as toenail fungus or imperfect skin doesn't end with a lawyers list of possible harmful side affects that make one relish the idea of simply suffering with the toenail fungus? There is risk in everything, from downing an energy drink, to taking the flu shot. I believe the risk with a flu shot for most people is minimal.
I think most people agree that a vaccine is a reasonable precaution. My issue, is that sometimes we go overboard (never did understand the chicken pox vaccine). And, I truly believe that that does not kill us, makes us stronger. And, vaccines are not always as safe and effective as medicos tell us. My kids caught whooping cough -- I had it when I was a kid and I KNEW they had it. Take them to the doctor. He says it is impossible, they were vaccinated. A few months later, the Seattle area has a massive whooping cough outbreak....seems the vaccine was not as effective as they had told us. Sometimes vaccines make us complacent. Probably be smart to do a combo of things, such as Rob's holistic approach and vaccinations. As long as you allow some NOS energy drinks and peanut M&M's into the rountine....
Since I knew it was a dead virus, symptom relief and sleep worked . . . aspirin and Avion. Bob Wilson
So last week, a 'mother earth' lady at work had gotten her flu shot and was told 'the high dosage was ineffective reported by the CDC.' This surprised me because I had read the CDC web page about the high dosage when I had my reaction and did not remember any such claim. Now I read the weekly CDC flu reports because it also gives a clue about absences and re-read the vaccine pages: Four times active ingredients: 15 mg -> 60 mg 24% improved effectiveness This led to the original study: Efficacy of High-Dose versus Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine in Older Adults High Dosage Standard Dosage metric 1 15991 15998 study sample size 2 228 301 subsequent flu 3 1.4% 1.9% rate of flu 4 1323 1442 adverse events A total of 31,989 participants were enrolled from 126 research centers in the United States and Canada (15,991 were randomly assigned to receive IIV3-HD, and 15,998 to receive IIV3-SD). In the intention-to-treat analysis, 228 participants in the IIV3-HD group (1.4%) and 301 participants in the IIV3-SD group (1.9%) had laboratory-confirmed influenza caused by any viral type or subtype associated with a protocol-defined influenza-like illness (relative efficacy, 24.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.7 to 36.5). At least one serious adverse event during the safety surveillance period was reported by 1323 (8.3%) of the participants in the IIV3-HD group, as compared with 1442 (9.0%) of the participants in the IIV3-SD group (relative risk, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85 to 0.99). After vaccination, HAI titers and seroprotection rates (the percentage of participants with HAI titers ≥1:40) were significantly higher in the IIV3-HD group. A nice lady and hard worker, I've known her for over 20 years yet she still attracts misinformation like a black sweater and pet hair. Still, she is the only other Prius owner and takes it to the dealer for all maintenance. Bob Wilson
BINGO. the best public health policy about it is in Japan. school childer (vectors) are vaccinated against influenza, not old people.
Respectfully I disagree. The point is to live well, not as long as possible. I ride bicycles, and motorcycles, fly small airplanes, and sail on ships large and small, all of which increase a risk of death but also increase the quality of life and provide peak experiences difficult to obtain otherwise. You do have to keep death preparations up to date, but we all get dead sooner or later and it's how we get there that counts.
whoever dies with the most toys wins. but seriously, robert is right. there is a whole fad today with longevity, not happiness. i think it is because some are buying into the 'live forever' nonsense that's going around.
I always figured don't die for stupid reasons . . . except as an example of what not to do. Bob Wilson
+1 Life in your years...instead of years in your life, or as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding said: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying...."
Did Bob Dylan crib that? Or the other way round? That he not busy being born Is busy dying - Bob Dylan, It's Alright Ma
Thank you for exact data and link to the New England Journal of Medicine report. We go in next week for the over-65 , 60 mg dose of the flu vaccine. Has anyone else noted a gradual reduction of the side effects of the flu shot over a 10-15 year period? That appears to be the case for us, but I have no idea if it is a real phenomenon due to perhaps a generalized immunity to all all likely variants of the major strains, or simply coincidence.
At local doctor's insistence I got Hepatitis B vaccinations a few years ago. Second one hurt! But subsequent blood tests showed it did not 'take'. So I will do it again, with the French vaccine this time, not the domestic one Is Hep B vacc commonly done in your necks of the woods?
