As part of my history in medical industry, I used to train sales representatives on new medical products and procedures. Because these sales reps were in hospitals and physicians offices, many medical companies (yes, Big Pharma), a condition of employment… Read More »The myth of getting the flu from the flu shot
In 2009, the H1N1 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic that was first described in April 2009. The virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1, which was responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic, that arose from a triple reassortment of bird, swine and human flu viruses that then further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus, leading to the term “swine flu” to be used for this pandemic. Unlike other strains of flu, H1N1 does not disproportionately infect older adults (greater than 60 years), which makes this a characteristic feature of this H1N1 pandemic, and made it especially dangerous to children. The CDC has reported some sobering worldwide statistics for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, including that between 151,700 and 575,400 people perished worldwide from 2009 H1N1 virus infection during the first year the virus circulated. Read More »The importance of flu surveillance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published a study in Pediatrics on the effects of influenza in children with neurologic disorders. It compared the outcomes, during and after the flu ,between kids with or without neurological disorders. The outcomes studied were deaths and hospitalizations during the H1N1 influenza pandemic, between April 15 and September 30, 2009, by looking at medical records of reported pediatric deaths.Read More »Flu vaccinations for children with neurological disorders
Not that it was required, but there’s even more evidence that flu shots are safe and efficacious for pregnant women, neonates and fetuses. A study published recently in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Effect of influenza vaccination in the first trimester of pregnancy, investigated the effects of influenza vaccinations on fetal and neonatal outcomes.
Over a 5 year study period, a total of 8,690 women received a seasonal trivalent inactive influenza vaccine during the first trimester, and delivered babies at the study institution. Some of the key results were:
Though published last fall, prior to the flu season, Biodork (great name), reprinted key parts of the 2011 edition of A Budget of Dumb Asses by Dr. Mark Crislip, who takes anti-anti-science to a new level of snark. It’s hidden in Medscape, so unless you have an account, you can’t read it it, but we have it here for you. It’s all about flu, but you can replace flu with any other vaccination. For your educational and humorous pleasure, and thanks to Biodork, here we go:
I wonder if you are one of those Dumb Asses who do not get the flu shot each year? Yes. Dumb Ass. Big D, big A. You may be allergic to the vaccine (most are not when tested), you may have had Guillain-Barre, in which case I will cut you some slack. But if you don’t have those conditions and you work in healthcare and you don’t get a vaccine for one of the following reasons, you are a Dumb Ass.Read More »Dumb Asses and Vaccines
On January 1, 2011, Connecticut mandated that any child between 6 and 59 months old must be vaccinated for influenza if they are to be enrolled in a licensed Connecticut day care center. So the vaccination rate for kids in… Read More »Connecticut reduces influenza rates with a simple step–vaccination
BBC News – La Nina ‘linked’ to flu pandemics. An interesting article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences correlates the La Niña conditions in the equatorial area of the Pacific with flu pandemics. The authors propose that… Read More »BBC News – La Nina ‘linked’ to flu pandemics