Finding a Needle in a Haystack
December 2nd, 2009 at 8:41 am By Nina Slupphaug
The H1N1 outbreak appears to have calmed down so we temporarily return our attentions to the seasonal flu which is expected to reach its yearly high sometime in the next month or two. The attention given to the H1N1 has lead to increased awareness and use of vaccinations, both for the seasonal flu and the novel H1N1 strain.
We are closing in on the traditional peak time of the seasonal flu it is not too late to get vaccinated, so with that in mind I conducted a quick search for the nearest location offering a vaccine. The MN Department of Health’s website turned up one location offering seasonal flu shots within 10 miles of my house, and within a week. I widened my search to 20 miles and found that a clinic in Woodbury has daily walk-in flu shots available this week. After changing my search to 100 miles one more clinic came up, offering one day of flu shots.
I then did some quick research with the retail clinics such as CVS, Walgreens, and Target. The Walgreens website told me there are no Walgreens near me that offer the vaccine. CVS’ Minute Clinics also have no locations in Minnesota offering the seasonal flu shot. There are local Target clinics that have seasonal flu shots available according to the Google Flu Shot Finder, but it is advised to call ahead to make sure you get up to date information.
Although a seasonal flu shot is possible to locate, they are few and far between. Walk-in clinics could mean long waits, and some of the clinics with available vaccinations may be far away. For many it is difficult to find the time to drive 20 miles to a clinic and then have to wait for a long time once there. The inconvenience of locating a vaccine and finding the time to get vaccinated does not mean that it is not important to consider getting the shot. The seasonal flu does not have the novelty and excitement of the H1N1, but it is not without consequence. Every year more than 200,000 people are hospitalized due to the flu and 36,000 Americans die each year from flu complications, and let us not forget about the thousands who have to stay home sick from work or school.
So do yourself, your friends, neighbors, and co-workers a favor and get a flu shot. If you can find one.
sources: flu data from CDC.
LikeTags: Flu Shots, H1N1, Influenza, Vaccin, Vaccinations
No loss if you don’t get a flu shot. In an August meeting of the House Health and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee, Michael Osterholm, from the University of Minnesota and former State Epidemiologist stated that the seasonal flu shot is not a good match. Why risk getting sick from the mercury, formeldehyde and Aluminum that is in the seasonal flu shot?
The 36,000 people who die each year from the flu is a bogus number. If you go to the CDC website, they admit there that they really have no idea how many people die from the flu each year.
The value of the flu shot is questionable anyway. If the flu shot really worked, then on the years when it isn’t such a good match to the viruses that are circling the globe, the death rate should soar. On years when it is a good match, the rates should plummet. So either the flu shot doesn’t work, or the 36,000 number is truly made up.
Please read this article, from the November issue of The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1 The upshot of the article is that based on studying all the research, the only people it really helps are the people who don’t need it. That is, those who tend to live a healthier lifestyle anyway. And those are the people who tend to get the shot. So the results are skewed anyway.
Instead, take 2000 mg of Vitamin D3 daily, stay away from sugar, alcohol and QUIT SMOKING! Get more exercise. Enjoy the Minnesota Winter and don’t be frightened by the scare tactics that are being used.
If there was solid evidence of efficacy for the flu shots providing protection, it might be more advisable to risk the exposure to mercury and the general suppressive effect that vaccines can have on the immune system. However, the evidence shows little effectiveness.
A review of 51 studies involving more than 294,000 children ages 6 – 24 months given the flu vaccine concluded that there was “no evidence” that a flu shot was any more effective than placebo, and in children over 24 months, only 33% were helped. Children with asthma in particular are not helped: One study of 800 children with asthma, where half were vaccinated and half were not, found no evidence that the flu vaccine prevents asthma exacerbations or reductions in clinic visits, ER visits and hospitalizations for asthma. (Arch Dis Child, 2004 Aug) A second study, done by the Mayo Clinic found that “the flu vaccine does not prevent influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma…In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are three times more at risk for hospitalization than children who do not get the vaccine.” (study presented at American Thoracic Society conference, May, 2009, San Diego).
How about healthy adults? A review of 48 studies (more than 66,000 adults) “Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6% and reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day. It did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time off work.” (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.” 2006)
Elderly – A review of 64 studies of elderly people living in nursing homes and of elderly living in the community found that vaccines were non-significant for preventing the flu. (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, “Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly.” 2006)
Because we know that people with weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to the flu becoming serious, it only makes sense to take steps to strengthen our immune systems. We can do this by eating whole, natural foods, avoiding processed foods and sugars, using supplements like vitamin C, zinc and Vitamin D3, and using homeopathy and herbs.
Whenever I see that “36,000 flu deaths” CDC statistic parroted, I realize here’s one more reporter who can’t find his/her way to the MMWR to investigate why it’s the same number year after year.
Here’s the link to that article in The Atlantic, “Does The Vaccine Matter?”
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1
The authors’ bios: “Shannon Brownlee is a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of Overtreated (2007). Jeanne Lenzer is an investigative journalist and a frequent contributor to the British medical journal BMJ.”