The Flu

[YosemiteSam]

I got the flu in 2018 at 45 and it's the sickest I've ever been. I missed about a week of work for the first time in my life, was really sick for about 3 weeks, and still getting over it almost 2 months later. I realize they aren't full proof, but I'll never miss my flu shot again.

Same. Flu shots are not foolproof, but you will second guess why you did not getting one when you get your *** handed to you by the flu.

 

[Miller]

Same. Flu shots are not foolproof, but you will second guess why you did not getting one when you get your *** handed to you by the flu.

Everyone should get a shot. It heart healthy and helps with duration even if you get it. I know. I almost died when the flu got into my bloodstream and attacked my heart. I was 30 and worked out daily. A complete fluke. 8 years later I almost died again because I went in to fix the afib the virus caused and the doc pierced my heart. I'm completely healthy now but it was a weird and crazy road with a lot of anxiety.

 

[Xelda]

Get to feeling better, @CyberB0b. I found running a humidifier in the room you sleep in really helps lessen sore throat pain.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Get to feeling better, @CyberB0b. I found running a humidifier in the room you sleep in really helps lessen sore throat pain.

I always use humidifiers during the winter since the humidity drops into the 20%-30%. I sleep better and don't wake up with a dry mouth needing water.

It also helps when you're sick. Especially if you are coughing a lot. That is normally due to mucus build up in your throat. Part of the reason the mucus builds up is your body trying to keep your throat moist. While a humidifier won't stop the mucus from building up. It will slow it down allowing you to cough less and sleep more.

Also, if you notice some wounds heal slower. Keep them moist and covered. Dry wounds will heal very slowly and sometimes not at all when you get older. They heal faster when they are kept moist. Stuff like antibiotic ointments aren't necessary for healing to happen, but while the antibiotic part helps keep infections out. It's the moisture that helps it heal faster. Not the antibiotics. (no matter what Neosporin tells you they have some secret ingredient)

Same with chapped lips. Before putting on the chapstick or whatever you use. Thoroughly moisten your lips first. Then use the chapstick to seal in the moisture and they will heal faster.

 

[Runwildboys]

I always use humidifiers during the winter since the humidity drops into the 20%-30%. I sleep better and don't wake up with a dry mouth needing water.

It also helps when you're sick. Especially if you are coughing a lot. That is normally due to mucus build up in your throat. Part of the reason the mucus builds up is your body trying to keep your throat moist. While a humidifier won't stop the mucus from building up. It will slow it down allowing you to cough less and sleep more.

Also, if you notice some wounds heal slower. Keep them moist and covered. Dry wounds will heal very slowly and sometimes not at all when you get older. They heal faster when they are kept moist. Stuff like antibiotic ointments aren't necessary for healing to happen, but while the antibiotic part helps keep infections out. It's the moisture that helps it heal faster. Not the antibiotics. (no matter what Neosporin tells you they have some secret ingredient)

Same with chapped lips. Before putting on the chapstick or whatever you use. Thoroughly moisten your lips first. Then use the chapstick to seal in the moisture and they will heal faster.

I recently got chapped lips for probably the first time since I was a teenager. I put petroleum jelly on them a couple of times and they healed right up. (They weren't badly chapped yet.)

 

[nobody]

I don't see why not.

MIT AI tool can predict breast cancer up to 5 years early, works equally well for white and black patients

The thing that concerns me about this kind of advancement is what health insurance providers will do with this information. Future cancer patients may be pre-rejected outright.

Cause people are greedy and as a rule suck.

 

[DFWJC]

Same. Flu shots are not foolproof, but you will second guess why you did not getting one when you get your *** handed to you by the flu.

I agree,
As long and people realize that the flu shot doesn't come even close to preventing them from getting the flu.
Last year, the overwhelming vast majority that gotten flu had gotten the flu shot.
At least in 2018, you only reduced your chance by 11% of getting it with the shot

 

[Them]

...I had the Flu for about 2 weeks around Thanksgiving....the worst I've had in years...I'm taking my first ever Flu shot tomorrow!

 

[Mountaineerfan]

My wife started feeling weird on Christmas Day, that night woke up in a full blown cough. Went Dr. and he prescribed the new medication but insurance wouldn't cover it. Show we all go tamiflu. My wife was down for about 6-7 days the first 3-4 she barely moved. Then got pneumonia symptoms at the end of that time. The dr's office said some crazy number like 40-60% were getting pneumonia like symptoms and 15% of those people were full blown pneumonia.

 

[Rockport]

The problem with the shots is they make an educated guess over which strain will hit every year and tell the flu shot makers which type to mass produce. If they guess wrong, no one is protected. If they guy partially wrong (similar strain), people are semi-protected.

Most of the time they guess right.

 

[morasp]

D'lenolate olive leaf extract works for me. I take two anytime I start to feel the symptoms nauseous stomach, dizzy, fever. They even closed schools here due to the flu so when I went in for my 30,000 mile check-up my doctor asked how I avoided the flu. It's a little expensive but is the best brand.

 

[EST_1986]

Don't do the shot and haven't had to flu since like 2006 but I got it last week and tried to tough it out. I'd rather die than to do that again, it kicked my ***.

 

[Reality]

Most of the time they guess right.

Yes, but for young children and the elderly that's like saying, "well, at least most of the bullets missed them."

I think you and a couple of others are misconstruing the point I am making.

I am not advocating against getting the flu shot nor am I saying it's not worth it.

My point is that due to the manufacturing process delay required by the current system, the CDC/WHO have to make guesses based on statistical probabilities.

What we need is a faster manufacturing process and/or a new delivery system that would greatly reduce the manufacturing, packaging and shipping phases

Every so often, they guess wrong and by the time the flu season makes that evident, a lot of people are already infected. If they can reduce the manufacturing process and/or provide a much faster delivery system, they could both guess and adapt and react should they guess wrong much faster.

Here's an article discussing the wrong guesses for the 2015 flu strains ..

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Why scientists guessed wrong on this year’s flu vaccine, and why it could happen again
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...c6e010-9744-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html

It’s an annual guessing game of sorts, one backed by data but also plagued with uncertainty. And when the guesses don’t exactly match the reality, as happened this past year, it can mean a dismal and deadly flu season.

“We’ll do the best we can,” said Daum, a Chicago doctor who heads the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee that makes the recommendations. But “the virus is smarter than we are at this point. I don’t know of any disease that plagues us more. It’s very, very frustrating and a very inexact science. . . . We do it with varying luck, and I think the luck is mostly the virus’s whim.”​

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I think some protection is better than no protection, but that still does not mean the process could not ultimately be improved.

 

[Rockport]

Yes, but for young children and the elderly that's like saying, "well, at least most of the bullets missed them."

I think you and a couple of others are misconstruing the point I am making.

I am not advocating against getting the flu shot nor am I saying it's not worth it.

My point is that due to the manufacturing process delay required by the current system, the CDC/WHO have to make guesses based on statistical probabilities.

What we need is a faster manufacturing process and/or a new delivery system that would greatly reduce the manufacturing, packaging and shipping phases

Every so often, they guess wrong and by the time the flu season makes that evident, a lot of people are already infected. If they can reduce the manufacturing process and/or provide a much faster delivery system, they could both guess and adapt and react should they guess wrong much faster.

Here's an article discussing the wrong guesses for the 2015 flu strains ..

---

Why scientists guessed wrong on this year’s flu vaccine, and why it could happen again
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...c6e010-9744-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html

It’s an annual guessing game of sorts, one backed by data but also plagued with uncertainty. And when the guesses don’t exactly match the reality, as happened this past year, it can mean a dismal and deadly flu season.

“We’ll do the best we can,” said Daum, a Chicago doctor who heads the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee that makes the recommendations. But “the virus is smarter than we are at this point. I don’t know of any disease that plagues us more. It’s very, very frustrating and a very inexact science. . . . We do it with varying luck, and I think the luck is mostly the virus’s whim.”​

---

I think some protection is better than no protection, but that still does not mean the process could not ultimately be improved.

Totally agree. Just imagine if an extremely deadly strain surfaced

 

[Reality]

Totally agree. Just imagine if an extremely deadly strain surfaced

Exactly!

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I agree,
As long and people realize that the flu shot doesn't come even close to preventing them from getting the flu.
Last year, the overwhelming vast majority that gotten flu had gotten the flu shot.
At least in 2018, you only reduced your chance by 11% of getting it with the shot

That’s a bit misleading.

H3N2 is a specific strain that flu shots are generally not as effective against. Other strains flu shots are 50-70% effective against preventatively.

2018 was H3N2’s year.