YOUR HEALTH

 

Don't be an ostrich

 

Today more and more educated and young people in North America are avoiding regular booster shot inoculations and especially the annual flu vaccination.

 

So far this year in Canada, just over 1/3 of the population is bothering to get FREE vaccination again influenza even though now it is readily available at their doctors, public mass clinics and local drug stores.

 

The mindset is particularly misguided because influenza is always a nasty attacker and since 2009 the predominant or an always recurring strain is H1N1 – swine flu.

 

Many seem to think the flu (at a 14 day run) is only a longer version of the common cold      (7 days), but this is not true, especially with H1N1 lurking around.

 

The common cold attacks the head and its common passageways: the upper throat, nose, sinuses, and ears.   That is why you feel a scratchy/sore throat, ‘congested head’, plugged ears, and have a running/snotty nose.

 

 

 

By comparison, all of the 303 know varieties of influenza (which comes in type A or type B families)¹ launch a broader and more vicious attack:  leading to muscle aches, headaches, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and most characteristically, a high fever ( a fever which alone if not reduced by cold compresses, cold baths and ibuprofen or acetaminophen medication can literally burn out your brain circuitry and cause death). And, of course, the flu attacks the breathing system and the lungs causing phlegm, wet coughing and may progress to severe shortness of breath and pneumonia --  the latter two requiring emergency medical attention and hospital critical-care treatment for a week or more – if the patient survives.

 

Put simply, all flu strains are not nice and create a serious weakening of the immune system during its 2 week long attack and many who survive this struggle end up with permanent lung scarring and other immune system predatory conditions for two years or more².

 

And H1N1 – the common and often predominant strain in Canada since 2009 – is especially dangerous as it an equal opportunity attacker and killer.

 

Most flu viruses tend to attack and harm the weak (the old, the very young and those in between who are pregnant or have some serious health conditions related to a major organ: heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.)  So, in the past, half of all deaths from the regular flu epidemics were age 62 or older – when life expectancy was 71.

 

But HiN1 has a mid-point of age 40!!!   That is, it will attack all ages and seriously threatens the lives – or kills off— a 25 year old joggers ³, a construction worker age 45 or a teenager!!

 

And while H1N1 has not been around for many decades, its new, annual visit is of great concern, for we now know – through DNA tracking – that the much earlier, ancestral version was the Spanish Flu – which between 1918 and 1920 killed some 50 million people worldwide ^4.

 

Final note:  It takes 2 weeks for the flu vaccine to reach maximum protection, so even if we are in mid- flu season today in Ontario and Canada (November through April), still get your needle.  You may travel to other parts of the planet in June which is their flu season, or international visitors may bring it with them to your home.

 

Treatment basics: All flues, when in full force, require isolation, bed rest -- to allow all the body’s energies to focus on defeating the virus, plenty of replacement fluids and the above mentioned treatments for high (deadly) fever. Over the counter medicines can help but bed rest and isolation are key!!!

 

 

So, be pro-active and practice preventative medicine.  Get your flu shot now and in future at the start of the season.   Protect your health and the health of your family and friends, make your boss happy and avoid loss of income – and keep H1N1 and other influenza at bay.

 

Don’t be an ostrich and bury your head in the ground when danger appears.

 

  

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1. Public Health Agency of Canada FluWatch report: January 5 to January 11, 2014 (Week 02)

2. “1.5 million called in sick with flu” by Jeff Gray, Globe and Mail Website Update;   Published Friday, Jan. 15 2010, 9:17 AM EST;Last updated Thursday, Aug. 23 2012, 1:45 PM EDT

3. “The scars from H1N1 remain” by Deborah Folka, Globe and Mail Website Update; Published Monday, Oct. 04 2010, 12:00 AM EDT; Last updated Thursday, Aug. 23 2012, 4:19 PM EDT

4. See Wikipedia, “Spanish Flu” and “Influenza”