Some music for your enjoyment. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Currently, I am sick with some form of the stomach flu and some sort of infection. What's even worse is that my family doctor had done testing on me with what looked like a ear swap that came out negative for the main 2 types of flu. Odd, and he never really figured out what I had because he only described it as "some virus." That's definitely not the answer I wanted to hear. I ended up in the hospital the following night where I was now told I was dehydrated, put on an IV, and left there for more than an hour. They'd taken out blood and the results were that I had a really bad virus and I needed more water in my system. Once again, no one figured out exactly what I had and gave me medicine that didn't help out.
It wasn't until Friday when my parents took me to a local clinic my cousin recommended. They drew a small amount of blood from me (which I wasn't so happy about.... 11th vile that week) and said I had some odd version of the stomach flu. That and I was still dehydrated. They gave a me a shot that made it a bit better but it hasn't finished out the virus and brought in a couple more symptoms. What I found odd is that I wasn't really vomiting or refusing to eat, I only had regular flu symptoms.
This is pretty scary seeing as they just announced a few days ago that the influenza shots most received only worked on 40% of the flu viruses when it can typically fight off 70-90% of flu viruses. The government is demanding that medicine companies have new shots started from scratch, something pretty hard to do since the next flu season isn't even a year away, it's like 8 months away. With many getting sick fast, it's going to be pretty hard. On the other hand, it is normal that so many outbreaks seeing as February is when flu cases peak but doctors and researchers aren't saying if this is the worst peak since the month isn't over yet.
Another worrisome threat is the fact that they found a new form of the flu that is resistant to a medicine called Tamiflu (apparently, it's the most common anti-flu medication given to patients). It's been reported in 4.6% of flu samples around the U.S. Personally, I think this is worse than the recent outbreak of the medicine-resistant staph infection. More people get the flu and already 10 people in the Chicago area have been diagnosed with the new drug-resistant flu. Scary. This isn't even accounting for the cases that haven't been treated or reported and those in other parts of the country. One doctor is quoted to have said he'll know in May; that's 2 1/2 months away and it's a little more than too much time.
At the moment, 10 people under the age of 18 have died from the flu (in general). 4 of them had tested positive for the staph infection. According to health officials, it's common for those who are weakened by the flu to catch another virus, like the staph infection or other stuff. The best thing to do to not catch the flu is to stay well, drink oj (not Simpson, lol), and if you feel the symptoms coming, go to your doctor (which I hope is a lot better than mine) and rest.
What are your thoughts on the flu?
p.s.
Thank you Chicago Tribune.
Influenza is not the same as the stomach flu virus. They are two entirely different viruses... not even different strains... two completely different viruses.
The flu vaccine is always a hit-or-miss type deal. They try to predict which strains will be bad based on flu patterns in other parts of the world, and develop a new vaccine based on those strains. This year, they didn't predict well enough (which I think is kinda funny, cause this year is like the first I've gotten the shot).
Also, something like 400 people die from the flu each year. It shouldn't be a panic situation.
As a side note, it's better to link to the article (or at least give the article title if you found it in print), than to say at the end 'thanks to Chicago Tribune'.
~C
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