On Swine Flu

So we have all heard it over the past few months, “If you do not feel good, STAY HOME!”… Unfortunately, this very important advice is not being followed by many due to the fact that people either do not get paid sick days, cannot afford a babysitter, or are students and do not want to miss class.

You probably have noticed in the classroom or the work environment, people who are coughing and are obviously sick. This may seem irritating, but can you really blame them? for starters, with the economy as it is, every penny counts.

Nearly half of all Americans do not have paid sick days, and literally cannot afford to take the day off. If they have a sick child, people are often unable to pay for child care or risk missing a day of work to take care of their child themselves. For more information on this issue, here is a good article to read: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1111/p23s01-usgn.html.

As for students, professors are not being as lenient as they should be considering the health circumstances. Many of them do not allow absences or make-up exams, causing sick students to go to class, even at the cost of spreading H1N1 even more.

I think that the only way to solve this problem is to demand that there be paid sick days and professors need to be a little more lenient when it comes to make-up work. If something does not change soon, we are going to be seeing a lot more cases of H1N1 that likely could have been prevented.

I found some information on the side effects that the swine flu vaccine has been proven to have.  There are some local side effects (around the site of the injection), as well as some systematic side effects.  Although there have been some mild side effects from the vaccine, there have been no deaths associated with it, which is a noteworthy fact.  About 44% of people who received the vaccination have reported these localized side effects:

• tenderness
• pain
• redness
• hardening of skin
• swelling
• bruising

About 36% of participants who were administered the swine flu vaccine reported the following systematic side effects:

• headache
• malaise, or feeling out of sorts
• muscle pain
• chills
• nausea 
• fever
• vomiting

It is important that you understand that these side effects are normal and that you do not overreact if you experience them.  But if you are having more serious symptoms or symptoms that are not listed, you should visit your doctor as soon as possible!  If you want to read more about the side effects of the swine flu vaccine, visit: http://diseases-viruses.suite101.com/article.cfm/swine_flu_vaccine_side_effects

I have to say, as the swine flu vaccine is becoming available, I am not sure that I will be getting it right away. Since there is not an ample amount of it to go around at this time, and since everyone under the sun is scrambling to get it, I think that I should hold off until people more prone to swine flu receive it. I am healthy and young. I rarely get sick, and when I do, I am able to fight it off quickly. It just makes sense to let other people such as children and elderly people get vaccinated first because swine flu poses more of a threat to them.

I am not trying to be naive and say that I am invincible, I just do not believe that swine flu is in my future, and if it is, I know that my body will be able to fight it off. Swine flu is just a variation of the seasonal flu and many people only who catch it have a mild case and bounce back in no time. I think what makes people so worried about the swine flu is that until now, it was unknown and there was no vaccine. I think that we should be looking at it as the flu, which means giving the limited amount of vaccine we have to those who need it most, which would most likely be children, elderly people, and anyone with weak immune systems. Down the road I have no doubt that I will not get the swine flu vaccination, but I think I would be helping others now if I put it off for a little.

This is not going to be a very informative post, but I thought that I would share some information I found. It is a website that will connect you to various links, all dedicated to answering questions about swine flu. This site is not a self-made site, it is government funded and all of the information presented on it is accurate. So I am sure this site will be able to answer virtually any question you may have about swine flu, so I suggest you check it out for some in depth and informative information!

Here is the link: http://pandemicflu.gov/faq/swineflu/

Some promising new information about the swine flu vaccine has surfaced. Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, told ABC that the swine flu vaccination may be ready earlier than expected. “We’re on track to have an ample supply rolling by the middle of October. But we may have some early vaccine as early as the first full week in October. We’ll get the vaccine out the door as fast as it rolls off the production line.” This is great news, although the first doses will most likely be given out to healthcare workers and other high-priority groups.

More good news is that healthy adults will most likely be able to receive only one dose of the vaccine instead of the expected two. Also, the vaccine should start protecting vaccinated people about 10 days after it is given, which is a lot shorter than the expected 3 weeks. Because healthy adults will only need one dose of the vaccine, there will be a lot more of it to go around. Once the vaccine is available, it will be distributed to designated locations across the country. “Every state has a plan saying these are the sites to get the vaccine as quickly as possible into people’s arms. That’s where the distribution will go,” Sebelius said.

It is wonderful that the vaccine will become available in less than a month. Having the vaccine available will put a lot of people at ease and hopefully protect everyone from the swine flu.

If you would like to read the full story, visit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_he_me/us_swine_flu_shots_4

With school starting again, many people are wondering what is going to happen with N1H1… is it going to lay low as it has most of the summer, or erupt with all the school aged people being in such close proximity of one another again? The answer is sure to be found soon, as many colleges are already in session. Parents are getting worried that there are going to be a lot more child deaths than what is the usual amount. The flu usually affects older people above 65, but the swine flu has affected many people between the ages of 5-24, and is killing people mostly in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

People are getting worried because N1H1 is new and there is not yet a vaccine for it. “Only this week do U.S. researchers start blood tests to answer a critical question: How many doses of swine flu vaccine does it take to protect? The answer will determine whether many people need to line up for two flu shots — one against swine flu and one against the regular flu — or three.” It is scary that there is nothing we can do to keep ourselves safe, especially while we are sending our children off to school, and children are the prime suspects of spreading the illness. Be sure that you tell your children all of the ways to reduce their chances of catching, or spreading, N1H1.

If you want to read more about what people are saying will happen as school starts, visit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090830/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu_3