Getting my flu shot!

It was late September, in 2017, when I decided to go and get my flu shot! (Even though it was still early in the flu season). As the chart, (below right) illustrates, high rates of flu really start to get going from December on! But, this year I thought it prudent to get my shot now!  I decided to do this as the CDC was recording increased numbers of people coming down with the swine version of the flu (H1N1). So, I called the Taney County Health Department and scheduled an appointment for Friday, September the 29^th. Hope I don't faint when they stick me with the needle!

The vaccine to be given out this season is as follows:

• an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus (updated)
• an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
• a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like (B/Victoria lineage) virus
  

In my case (old age), I would also be given the slightly more powerful quadrivalent vaccine which also includes the B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (B/Yamagata lineage) virus!

Hey! What about the mercury content you may ask?

OK, here's some facts: Thiomersal*— A preservative that contains mercury — has never been shown to be harmful. The type of mercury linked with nervous system damage is methyl mercury. (Concerns over methyl mercury levels have led to recommendations that pregnant women avoid eating large amounts of certain types of fish, such as swordfish).

In contrast, thiomersal is an ethyl mercury compound.

Still, because the preservative raised controversy, especially over a now dis-proven link to autism, it was taken out of almost all U.S. Single does vaccines starting in 2001.

The injectable form of flu vaccine is available to health care providers in one of two ways — they can get large bottles of it, which contain many doses, or they can small bottles, which contain an individual dose of the vaccine.

There is a tiny amount of thiomersal in the multi-dose bottles. The preservative ensures that no bacteria will grow in the vaccine. The individual-dose bottles, however, contain no thiomerosal. So, anyone concerned about the compound's effects can ask their provider for an individual dose.

*Thiomersal, or thimerosal, is an organomercury compound. This compound is a well established antiseptic and antifungal agent. The pharmaceutical corporation Eli Lilly and Company gave thiomersal the trade name Merthiolate. www.taneyweather.com

See also: Officials brace for potentially bad flu season in the U.S.!

Protesters gather in front of Taney courthouse!

Forsyth MO. – Thursday, September 29, 2017 was the date that authorities had set for a courtroom hearing concerning Kyle W Williams; one of two men who have been accused of the death of a kitten by means of torture – The specific charges were; Animal Abuse - 2nd/Subsequent Offense Or By Torture And/Or Mutilation While Animal Was Alive along with a separate charge of Armed criminal action, both considered to be felony charges. See video: https://www.facebook.com/altaann.bivens/videos/10154680371966106/

The gruesome nature of the killing and methods used to torture the kitten to its death, (a video of which was posted on Facebook briefly before being taken down), has raised a great amount of ire in the community as the protesters signs would seem to indicate. Mr. William's attorney has filed both for a change of venue and another trail judge in the previous month. No word, as of yet, of how the hearing went down. www.taneyweather.com

What's in the 2017-18 flu vaccine?

The strains of influenza covered by the vaccine vary from year to year; the composition of each year’s vaccine is based on recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Around the world, more than 100 countries have influenza centers that monitor flu-like illnesses. The centers test samples from patients to determine whether an illness is caused by an influenza virus, and if so, which type.

Those centers report data to a handful of WHO sites around the world, and those sites in turn track which strains are circulating. In February, the centers’ directors and other experts meet to prepare for flu season in the northern hemisphere.

“What’s circulating in the southern hemisphere (mainly H3N2 in late 2017) kind of gives us a determination of what we might expect to see in our season,” Stated Kayla DeBusk, a vaccine accountability specialist with the Spokane Regional Health District. .

Contrary to popular belief, the effectiveness of the vaccine isn’t usually determined by health departments selecting the right flu strains. More often, it depends on whether scientists have a similar virus mapped out well enough to produce vaccines for it.

“We don’t have a good virus match” for some strains, DeBusk said. Typically, a vaccine strain of the flu is about a 40 to 60 percent genetic match to the virus it’s supposed to provide immunity for.
Vaccines are more effective in years when the main types of flu have been seen before and already have effective vaccine strains. Strains for vaccines are grown in hen’s eggs.

Some people believe flu vaccines are rushed or “untested” because they change composition every year, but DeBusk said that’s far from the truth.

“We’ve been doing this method of manufacturing flu vaccines for about 70 years,” she said.
Swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, is circulating again this season and has been included in this year’s vaccine, though the variant is slightly different from the one included in last year’s.

All vaccines protect against two types of influenza A, which can be transmitted from animals. Those viruses, including H1N1, make up most cases during the early part of flu season. Influenza B strains, which only affect humans, tend to pick up later in the season.

Quadrivalent vaccines include two types of influenza B, while trivalent vaccines have just one.
This year's trivalent vaccine will contain:

• an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus (updated)
• an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
• a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like (B/Victoria lineage) virus
  

The quadrivalent vaccine will also include B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (B/Yamagata lineage) virus!
www.taneyweather.com

Congressional death spiral 101! Next up! Tax Reform!

Scientists often use a word called the 'action'. It describes something that moves. Congress has a similar word they like to also use quite often.... inaction!

OK, so after giving up on the repeal of ObamaCare, the Republicans have now set their sights on tax reform. The plan, as outlined in the framework, nearly doubles the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families. This basically increases the amount of personal income that is tax-free. The plan also would collapse the number of personal tax brackets from seven to three. By simplifying the system, most Americans would be now be able to file their taxes on a postcard, or so the plan would indicate.

And while there are some other 'gee whiz' pieces and parts, I can almost hear many a Democrats teeth grind at the thought of even slowing down the gravy train a tad, has got their collective panties in a twist! You see, after working so hard to thwart the President's agenda at every turn, many on the Left are beginning to drool at the thought of taking back both Houses in 2018 and maybe even the Presidency come 2020! (Sabotage, like vengeance are meals both best served cold, and the Democrats are past masters of both)!

So, onward we will then go, everyone. As fall turns into winter, more and more of us will be left in the cold, standing on the outside of a clinic unable to get in. And, as system after system begins to fail, in earnest, only the shouting of politicians will be left. First up will be the ever declining level of healthcare Americans will receive, followed by failing entitlements, as the money to fund them also dries up. (You all really didn't think we could carry a 20 plus trillion dollar debt with NO consequences, did you)? www.taneyweather.com

The 2017-18 flu season may be a bad one!

One of the indicators for determining how severe the coming flu season will be is to just look at the opposite hemisphere to see what is happening. The flu bug is always active somewhere in the world and tends to get worst in colder weather when people tend to become in closer contact. When it's October here and we are just getting into the cooler months, places like Australia are heading for spring.

Health experts say this is Australia’s worst flu outbreak thanks to a particularly nasty strain,

Influenza A (H3N2). More than 137,500 cases of flu have been reported so far this year including a record breaking 30,000 cases in August. That’s more than double the 53,159 cases confirmed by this time last year and more than the total 83,092 cases confirmed by the end of the flu season in 2016.

So, we have that same strain, (perhaps) to look forward to later this winter season! Thankfully, the vaccine that is being made available this year has an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like deactivated virus as part of the mix!

Of interest is the fact that the flu is already hitting states like Colorado pretty hard.  www.taneyweather.com

So, it's come down to this?

While in a never ending search for meals that would fit well into my latest diet (aka Ketogenic*), I've come across a real wiener, er, winner.

Column headers are; calories, carbs, fat, protein and sodium

OK! So, it don't look like very much and, you know what? It isn't! Just 166 calories (with enough salt to last me a few weeks). And, yes the salt issue aside, this is a low carb, high protein repast that was just the ticket for an otherwise so so Tuesday in September!

*The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain-function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source.

Let's try someone new in 2020!

Bill the Cat for President!

Let's face it! Obama was a complete loser, while Trump has become somewhat of a cool bully! So, come 2020, I propose we elect a real idiot to give running our government a shot!