The other day I received my free H1N1 (swine ‘flu) immunisation, thanks to the Australian Government.
This was a good decision and I would urge people who can safety receive this vaccine to do so, for a number of reasons.
One. Although the H1N1 virus has not caused the same number of deaths in the western world as it did in Mexico, this is still a still a relatively new virus and we have no idea how it will mutate and whether it will become more virulent. It therefore makes sense to be vaccinated now, rather than later when the next ‘flu season arrives in winter.
Two. The more people who become immunised, the greater the “herd immunity”. Briefly stated, the more people immunised, the less the likelihood that the virus will become widespread in the community – which in turn reduces the possibility of a pandemic and death.
Three. It’s safe. The H1N1 vaccine uses technology that is proven and has been operating successfully for a number of years. True, it does use a small amount of a mercury-based preservative called thiomersal to prevent growth of bacteria in vaccine. However, thiomersal has a very long safety record and the levels of mercury in the vaccination are not sufficient to warrant concern. Thiomersal is not used in the MMR jabs – despite misleading nonsense from the antis.
So, there you have it.
Next time you’re talking vaccinations and somebody says “oh, but of course you know it’s not safe” you can say – with some confidence;
“No, no, no, you’re wrong and stupid and evil. Shut yer nonsense before I stab you in the eye.
“RIGHT IN YOUR MOTHER-FUCKIN EYE!!!*”.
*Not recommended by most medical authorities**.
**It is, however, recommended by me.
This was a good decision and I would urge people who can safety receive this vaccine to do so, for a number of reasons.
One. Although the H1N1 virus has not caused the same number of deaths in the western world as it did in Mexico, this is still a still a relatively new virus and we have no idea how it will mutate and whether it will become more virulent. It therefore makes sense to be vaccinated now, rather than later when the next ‘flu season arrives in winter.
Two. The more people who become immunised, the greater the “herd immunity”. Briefly stated, the more people immunised, the less the likelihood that the virus will become widespread in the community – which in turn reduces the possibility of a pandemic and death.
Three. It’s safe. The H1N1 vaccine uses technology that is proven and has been operating successfully for a number of years. True, it does use a small amount of a mercury-based preservative called thiomersal to prevent growth of bacteria in vaccine. However, thiomersal has a very long safety record and the levels of mercury in the vaccination are not sufficient to warrant concern. Thiomersal is not used in the MMR jabs – despite misleading nonsense from the antis.
So, there you have it.
Next time you’re talking vaccinations and somebody says “oh, but of course you know it’s not safe” you can say – with some confidence;
“No, no, no, you’re wrong and stupid and evil. Shut yer nonsense before I stab you in the eye.
“RIGHT IN YOUR MOTHER-FUCKIN EYE!!!*”.
*Not recommended by most medical authorities**.
**It is, however, recommended by me.
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42 comments:
I hate when people say they have the 'flu when they have a cold
I hate when people say they have a migraine when they have a headache.
I hate when people say "I'll double check" when they haven't checked once yet.
I hate when people say "I'll see if I've got one out the back" when it's not even their shop.
How do you know if they have a migraine or headache, Bob? I suffer from migraines, and often I only get the halos and not the super intense pain. So it might appear to all and sundry that because I can still work and am not shut up in a dark room, vomitting my guts up, that I don't really have a migraine.
I refuse to get 'flu shots, because I am a stupid, brainless moron. Mostly because I never used to get the 'flu, and then at my first job, the company basically forced everyone to get one, and that year I had more days off with the most horrible 'flus imaginable than I have ever had in the 17 years before that combined. I have never had another 'flu shot since, and I have so far never had the 'flu since, either. To my peasant logic, that means 'flu shot = evil.
I also get migraines (sometimes, mildly), so does my wife (regularly, severely). I also used to sell migraine tablets for an evil empire many years ago. I know a bit about it. Therefore, on that basis, I can usually tell if someone has a migraine or not, based on their description, pain or not.
I've never had the 'flu. But I do get colds.
Nice try, Ramon.
But it's common knowledge that this is just another plot by the Zionist/Masonic/Illuminati Military Industrial Complex in league with the Biderberg Group and the Saucer People to dilute our Purity Of Essence and prepare the way for our enslavement under a Communist New Word Order and Totalitarian World Government.
Don't try to deny it, it's on the Interwebs.
it's common knowledge that this is just another plot by the Zionist/Masonic/Illuminati Military Industrial Complex in league with the Biderberg Group and the Saucer People to dilute our Purity Of Essence and prepare the way for our enslavement under a Communist New Word Order and Totalitarian World Government.
Yeah!
Zionist/Masonic/Illuminati Military Industrial Complex
I know!
And our clubroom totally rocks!!
Puss, you may be allergic to the vaccine - in which case you shouldn't have the shot.
Ah, ok. That makes sense then, Bob. Mine usually start behind my left eye/temple. I've had severe ones where I do have to lie in a dark room and the slightest movement makes me vomit, but mostly I get something in the middle of mild and severe. But I generally work through them, unless I get the halos and can't see anything.
Ramon, it wouldn't be the first thing I'm allergic to, drugs wise. I'll add it to the list of penicillan, ventolin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and something else I can't remember.
Are you allergic to eggs, Puss?
Not that I know of. But I don't eat eggs, so I can't really say for certain. I'm sure I have them in cakes and whatnot, and that doesn't affect me.
I'd say you might be having a reaction to something in the vaccine, Puss.
BTW, is the sign above in Spanish?
What does it say?
I'm not getting it. My theory is that since all flu mutates every season anyway, the vaccine is only good for the last known strain, not the next one. But if everyone thinks that they have already been vaccinated, they wont bother getting the new vaccine for the new strain. Therefore, when the really bad flu arrives, I'll be able to get the new vaccine ahead of everyone else.
And more people died of the normal flu in the US than died of swine flu in the whole world. Such an over-reaction!
Peligro means Danger.
Kitten, even if the virus mutates, the vaccine will still offer you substantial protection.
And thanks, Puss.
That was really interesting, because until you pointed out the sign was in Spanish, I didn't even notice. I just read it as if it was in English. Weird.
So what say you, Ramon, to the doctors (two asked by me, a GP and one at the Children's) who say that they're not getting it, and they are only recommending it for people who would usually get the seasonal flu vaccination?
I'd say, they're wrong.
I had my shot a week ago. I got it from a shaky old lady working out of a half constructed building in the middle of western Queensland. All things considered, I was probably fortunate to get away with a big, ugly bruise and nothing else.
Still, it did cost me nothing.
Funnily, I rang around before I left and couldn't find anyone near where I live in the city that would do the shot for free. Most places said they wouldn't do it at all because I wasn't already a customer.
I suffer from migraines, and often I only get the halos and not the super intense pain.
unless I get the halos and can't see anything.
Are migraines those things that happen when you go blind for a few hours and can't see anything but little exploding flashes of light? Is that the 'halos'? I don't get that often, but it's a bit bloody annoying when it does happen.
Ramon, it wouldn't be the first thing I'm allergic to, drugs wise. I'll add it to the list of penicillan, ventolin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and something else I can't remember.
I'm thankful that I've never had a bad reaction to anything like that. I am allergic to certain types of pollen though. The kind of allergic that involves itching, swelling and large quantities of bloody/pussy mucus. Needless to say, I fucking hate spring.
Also, why does 'flu have an apostrophe at the start?
Good question Alex. Perhaps it should have one at the start and the end. 'flu'.
Migraine auras or halos are different to different people but can include blind spots, flashes of diamonds or zigzags of light in the periphery, strange taste and smell sensations, photosensitivity, a feeling of removal from reality and, worst of all, but not always, blindingly painful, usually unilateral, headaches which make you feel like your head is exploding and your eye has just been pierced by a red hot piece of wire with a barb on the end.
strange taste and smell sensations, photosensitivity, a feeling of removal from reality and, worst of all, but not always, blindingly painful, usually unilateral, headaches which make you feel like your head is exploding and your eye has just been pierced by a red hot piece of wire with a barb on the end.
Christ, I'm glad I don't get any of that. Just stupid flashes of light that make it impossible to see anything, uh, other that stupid flashes of light.
Bob you're right, as it's short for influenza, there should be an apostrophe showing where it's been abbreviated (beginning and end).
Maybe there's only one apostrophe because two would make it misleading or unclear, instead of achieving greater clarity, which is what punctuation is meant to do.
Yes, it would be silly to have 2. Further, it's quite ok not to use one at all in abbreviated words which are in common usage. So flu is ok. As are bus and fridge.
Alex I've had those flashy lights before and a GP described it to me as an ocular migraine.
Bob, do ocular migraines even exist, or have I been living under a non-existent diagnosis all these years? Just some crazy bastard GP's crazy bastard joke?
Agreed Bob. Agreed.
Over here we have a priority list of the most vulnerable groups in the community who have first dibs on the shot. Apparently this includes the players and coaching staff of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After jumping the queue for the shot, the Leafs have been woeful and now sit at the bottom of the ladder. Karma, coincidence or allergic reaction?
Kettle, I daresay I'd trust a doctor before me - although stranger things have happened - but I do know you can have a migraine with just the flashing lights but without any other symptoms including pain. Dunno if they're called ocular migraines or not.
Perhaps a second opinion is called for. It's worth knowing if you get migraines or not, as they can indicate higher risk factors for various other things.
Kettle, I have been diagnosed with ocular migraines as well, but I also get the "regular" sort. So the term does exist.
As I was growing up, my Mum had a migraine every morning of her life. She'd spew into the gully trap and say, "Better out than in, love."
Finally, she had surgery on her sinuses. One tiny little piece of bone was removed, and now she has about one migraine a year.
Huh, and I always thought she was an alcoholic.
Mum?
She had a glass of sherry once. Late 70's, maybe early 80's.
Though, she'd do better to take up alcohol in her old age, to counteract the amount of salt she eats. She salts things to the point that every dish has 'salt' in the title. Stir fry with salt. Salted seafood. Salt on toast, with side tomato. Salt with fries.
Cripes Pers.
At a birthday function the other day my mum demolished most of a bottle of champaign and a couple of beers.
And she's 81.
We're a hard-drinkin' family, the O'Insernameheres
Ramon I must be losing touch. I couldn't immediately tell if I should get the shot, or not. "Safe" and "mercury" in the same par and my malfunctioning irony gland caused confusion.
And a friend who suffered from debilitating migraines for years has successfully used aspirin therapy. Magic for her.
The H1N1 vaccine doesn't contain "mercury", Catlick.
It contains a mercury-based preservative.
In tiny amounts.
At a birthday function the other day my mum demolished most of a bottle of champaign and a couple of beers.
And she's 81.
We're a hard-drinkin' family, the O'Insernameheres
Sounds like my dad at my brother's wedding over the weekend. He even did the patented drunken speech and all. It was hilarious and scary all at the same time.
I'm a big fan of the 'flu shot. We got them free at my old school, but I missed out this year because I was on antibiotics with the 'flu already. So disappointed, I like getting the jab-jab.
Atta girl, EMS.
I got the H1N1 shot a couple of weeks ago - the day before I took off overseas. People kept telling me it was risky to have it the day before travel because I'd get symptoms etc - but all I got was a band aid and a sore arm for an hour.
In a slightly related matter my neighbours are the anti-vaccination variety and didn't let any of their kids have any jabs. Last year the entire family got whooping cough, including the older kids from the previous marriage, toddlers and the parents, and they were all wiped out for around 4 months. They now recommend childhood vaccinations.
I wonder if you need to specifically get the H1N1 vaccine, or if you have previously been jabbed countless times for other things, whether your system is better placed to fight it off?
Before I went overseas, I had injections for: Hep A/Hep B x 3, Tetanus/Polio/Diptheria/Whooping Cough, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Rabies x 3, cervical cancer x 3, Measels/Mumps/Rubella and Chickenpox. And then had to drink something for cholera, and take malaria tablets.
I was overseas during the big swine flu scare. I wasn't sick once while overseas. Despite drinking the tap water in virtually every country I went to.
Puss, no you need the vaccine for the H1N1 strain as this is a new virus.
And bloody hell Leilani, whooping cough can kill small children - very quickly and very nastily.
That's probably the one thing you really do need immunisation for.
No, I understand that Ramon. I just wonder if the reason I didn't get sick at all while I was overseas, and around people who were ill (and possibly with swine flu, as I was in Mexico City when it broke out) was because my immune system had already boosted itself up.
Obviously I know all of those vaccinations can't fight swine flu if I was to get it, as it's not the same virus, but I just wondered if the reason I didn't get sick was because my immune system was extra strong at the time.
Possibly, but I think it's more likely that you were lucky.
A company I used to work for used to provide flu vaccinations on site for free as they found it cut out 1/3 of sick days each Winter. I think they are a good idea, especially for the older folks who get knocked around more by the flu. Its pretty rare to find people who don't immunise their kids these days - schools and day care centres make life too difficult for those that aren't immunised. I'll look into getting the swine flu shot - is there a minimum age to get it or can my 2 yr old have one too?
PG, one of the main reasons I had the jab was that my brother has a couple of littlies and he reckons that when he had his, they told him that it wasn't suitable for children under ten. I figured that if they were going to catch the flu, I'd rather that it wasn't because of me.
Atta girl, EMS.
Well. Technically, it wasn't me, it was me dad. I drank more water than wine that night, but don't tell my ancestors.
I'ma bit confused about this jab-jab/overseas business. What should I make sure I get done before I go? I told my dr a while back I was going O/S and she was all ... "meh". Mind you, she had the same reaction when I told her I had IR & when I told her I thought I was up the duff. Maybe I should see a different dr? But I like her moxie & she thinks it's great I don't own a set of scales. That's hard to find in this town.
I think I'll insist on getting the swine 'flu jab-jab, and not just because I like a good jab-jab, I don't like the idea of having the swine 'flu when I'm traveling.
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