Flu Shots

Unfortunately, there's not a vaccine for this version of the swine flu yet, and a regular flu shot won't do anything to prevent it.

If my mind is remembering correctly, at some point in my youth, I'm going to say early 70's, there was a swine flu problem then, and they did come out with a vaccine for it. So I'm sure that they will come out with one for this one as well. The biggest things we can do to keep from getting it is to be almost religious about washing our hands, especially while we're in and after we've left public places.

I could be wrong, and a call to a pharmacy or doctor would get you a for sure answer, but I know I read something earlier online about there not being a vaccine for it yet.

Holly is right - there is no shot out there for this flu strain yet.

Once a new strain of the flu develops, they need time to get the vaccine developed and on the market.

Ohio has one confirmed case of swine flu to date in Loraine Ohio. As previously stated - there is no vaccine for this strain of flu.

The scary part it is that there is no Secretary of Health and Human Services. Republicans are blocking her nomination because she is pro-choice. When did being pro-choice disqualify you from working for the government? I mean the country overwhelmingly elected a pro-choice President.

We also don’t have a head of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) because the head is picked by the Secretary of HHS. Thanks GOP for once again putting politics ahead of safety.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/23/gop_stymies_vote_on_sebelius.html

That'll teach us!

The news is now reporting the possibility of a case of swine flu in Wood County, so it is possibly getting closer

Don't panic people. I mean really. You are more likely to be damaged by Heidi and Spencer than this flu strain!

1976 U.S. outbreak

On February 5, 1976, an army recruit at Fort Dix said he felt tired and weak. He died the next day and four of his fellow soldiers were later hospitalized. Two weeks after his death, health officials announced that swine flu was the cause of death and that this strain of flu appeared to be closely related to the strain involved in the 1918 flu pandemic. Alarmed public-health officials decided that action must be taken to head off another major pandemic, and they urged President Gerald Ford that every person in the U.S. be vaccinated for the disease. The vaccination program was plagued by delays and public relations problems, but about 24% of the population had been vaccinated by the time the program was canceled.

About 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, resulting in death from severe pulmonary complications for 25 people, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS.
The 2009 swine flu outbreak is the spread of a new strain of H1N1 influenza virus that began in March of 2009. Localized outbreaks of influenza-like illness (ILI) were detected in three areas initially in Mexico and soon after in the United States. Following the discovery of the new strain in the United States, its presence was quickly confirmed in multiple nations across several continents. There have been over 1,600 suspected cases. Because it is not possible to confirm every one of such cases as being caused by an influenza virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) refers to them collectively as influenza-like illnesses (ILI).

The new strain is derived in part from human influenzavirus A (subtype H1N1), and in part from two strains of swine influenza as well as an avian influenza.¹⁸ In April both the WHO and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expressed serious concerns about this novel strain, because it apparently transmits from human to human, has had a relatively high mortality rate in Mexico, and because it has the potential to become a flu pandemic.¹⁹

On April 25, 2009, the WHO determined the situation to be a formal "public health emergency of international concern", with knowledge lacking in regard to "the clinical features, epidemiology, and virology of reported cases and the appropriate responses".²⁰ Government health agencies around the world also expressed concerns over the outbreak and are monitoring the situation closely.

And the Goddamned media , circling like sharks,is in another of their hysteria-inducing frenzies. It's the end of the world!!

We're not being hysterical on FOX Toledo. My story tonight is with an ER doc from Toledo Hospital, and I'll give it away here for the sake of the conversation...

He explains that most of us shouldn't be concerned because we're much more likely to get the regular flu. Swine flu isn't more deadly, he says, and really you only need to get checked out if you've got flu symptoms and have been out of the country (especially to Mexico) recently.

Otherwise, here's a link to Wood County's press release... http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/Possible_swine_flu_case_in_Wo

I had been working at the Main Post Office downtown when they offered the shot. I took it. I was young, and healthy then. I probably would probably have to really look at the odds now before I did that.

My understanding is that small children and adults over 60 are not as severely as affected by this strain as the young and healthy. So, being over 60, I definitely would not take a swine flu vaccine shot. It's rare to get a break by virtue of being old. And a bit disconcerting. I'd much rather see my kids stay healthy then me if I had a choice.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/deadly-swine-flu-outbreak-linked-to-smithfields-cafos/

First, let me say that I am not asking this because I am obsessing about the flu. My parents are sick with a bad case of the flu at this moment. How does one find out if they would have the Swine Flu? They haven't been to Mexico or out of Toledo for that matter but you never know who you could have ran in to at the grocery store.

I was just wondering how they find out when someone has it. Do they have to be sick enough to go to the ER then get tested?

It would be wise to contact their family physician by phone for advice - immediately. A visit to the ER, unless it's a true life threatening medical emergency like dehydration or difficulty breathing, would only serve to spread whatever virus has laid them low.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN2752263520090427

There is some reporting regarding hog farming and swine flu, but not about any possible transmission link.

ToledoLatina,

I think they said on the news that they do a blood test to determine if you do have it.

I agree with everyone saying the media is making a big deal out of it in a way. However, I think what makes it remarkable is we don't know exactly what--if anything--the strain will do. That and the fact that it's a mutated mixture of bird, swine, and human flu. In reality, I don't think it'll seriously harm as many people in the US. My hypothesis about why so many Mexicans died is because of poor health care among the farmers and poor--those most likely to come into contact with the pigs. Up here we have much better access to hospitals and doctors, thus making the blow less harsh.

If swine flu don't kill you the vaccine will. Remember the swine flu vaccine fiasco of the 1970's?

If swine flu don't kill you the vaccine will. Remember the swine flu vaccine fiasco of the 1970's? I believe it was 1976.

13 ABC has this page with links to Swine Flu info and resources
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/feature?section=news/national_world&id=6782225

I regularly check a Disaster and Emergency AlertMap and over the weekend they upgraded to include a Pandemic Monitoring system. I thought I would share with you all.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?lang=eng

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8021827.stm

Neat map ToledoLatina. Thanks!

I have a flu or cold. I have a post-nasal drip, and I felt tired yesterday. Today I am feeling better, but it is working its way through my extended family. My 3-year-old niece had a cough during her birthday the Saturday before last (Apr. 18), then I noticed a friend of one of my nephews was coughing and sneezing when he was over at the house last Monday (Apr. 21), then my youngest nephew had coughing/sneezing last Feiday (Apr. 24), and I began to feel kind of bad Sunday evening.

Monday I awoke with a cough, and I had to take a neighbor to her cardiologist in Perrysburg. I decided to wait in the car; the swine flu was in the news, and I could just see the queasy reaction of the oldsters when I sat down, and began to cough and sneeze. I put the seat back in the car, lowered the windows, and proceeded to listen to the BBC on 91.7 (WUOM). For the next hour as I lay in daze, listening and dozing I heard nothing but coverage of the Swine Flu. I admit to hypochondria at times, but I do not think I have this.

There is some kind of upper respiratory crap going around. I'm just getting over an ugly hacking, blowing, sneezing, nasal dripping cold. It's been about 10 days. It was all in my head, literally, plus some fatigue, which was probably from carrying around a box of kleenex 24-7 to catch the drips.

The media keeps hyping this thing up, even though only one person in the U.S. that contracted the swine flu was hospitalized. It's like they have nothing else to do. I remember the swine flu scare in 1975 and President Ford saying everyone should get a swine flu vaccination. My mom drove me to the health department to get one. Then some people started dying or getting paralyzed from the vaccinations and they stopped.

holland "I'd much rather see my kids stay healthy then me if I had a choice."

Tips hat, very noble and I agree.