Have you gotten your flu shot?

It's only mid October and already clinics are bracing for flu troubles as cases are already on the march upwards! A recent article, I read, cited - 'It is officially flu season and doctors said one strain of the flu is expected to be especially severe this year. That strain is called the H3N2 strain. This year, flu season is expected to last from October until May.

Doctors recommend getting the flu shot as early as possible. Anyone who is older than six months old can get a flu shot. It is scientifically proven to help protect you. The vaccine has an inactive virus that helps your body build up immunity to the flu.

Fatigue, coughing, a runny nose and nausea are signs of the flu. Doctors said the best way to avoid getting sick is to get a flu shot.

"I would say it's not only protective for yourself, but also protective for other people who might have chronic illnesses who might be at risk to get the flu," said Ben Moss, a physician assistant at Grants Pass Clinic.' - Excerpted from KDRV.COM.

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Some background on the H2N2 virus: 'Influenza viruses that normally circulate in pigs are called “variant” viruses when they are found in people. Influenza A H3N2 variant viruses (also known as “H3N2v” viruses) with the matrix (M) gene from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus were first detected in people in July 2011. The viruses were first identified in U.S. pigs in 2010. During 2011, 12 human infections with H3N2v were detected. During 2012, there were multiple outbreaks of H3N2v resulting in 309 reported cases.'

This is a tough little swine virus, in my opinion, and I'd urge everyone to consider getting a shot this fall. Remember it takes about two weeks for a person's immune levels to ramp up, so the earlier you get a shot, the better!

It's early December and the flu is on the move!

A number of factors may make the 2017-18 season for flu something rather special! Already, the bug is showing up in more states than is 'normal' for the time of year. And, as the graphic above shows, it looks to be making significant headway in the central southern states! So, why do I think we might be in for a rougher than normal flu ride? Let me count out a few....

1) Every year, scientists look towards the Southern Hemisphere to help hone their predictions for what might happen here. When choosing strains for the coming year’s flu vaccine, they consider what’s circulating in that part of the world. That’s the good news. The culprit in Australia was the H3N2 strain of flu, which is included in this year’s vaccine and which dates back to Hong Kong in 2014. The bad news is that the H3N2 strains are some of the hardest ones for the flu vaccine to combat. All flu viruses make frequent genetic changes that help them slip around a vaccine. Influenza H3N2 viruses are particularly adept at changing as the vaccine is being made, rendering this year's vaccine less effective against them. Some experts cite an effectiveness rating of only about 10%!

2) Most of the patients that have tested positive, as of late November, tested positive for the H3 Type A strain. The same virus that did such a number in the southern hemisphere...

3) Only about 47% of American citizens even bother to get a flu shot, citing their robust health as a reason. Sadly, the virus doesn't really care about who it infects. It treats everyone the same!

4) There is some growing evidence that more Gen X shoppers are flocking to the malls, not so much for the shopping aspect as for the socializing aspects.

5) There is some evidence that the H3 strain may be more deadly that what had been normal

Sources:
Flu season off to a tough start!
Flu shot may only be partially effective.
Mom of 2 dies day after flu diagnosis!

Flu season soars in the United States, especially in the South!

Disturbing news from Australia concerning the flu!

Australia, the continent down under, has been going through the worst flu outbreak in its history. And now as the season winds on down for them, new concerns about the effectiveness of this year's flu vaccine are coming to the fore!

As a Queensland family mourns the sudden death of an 18-year-old student who fell ill with the flu, experts have revealed this year’s vaccine “wasn’t a perfect match”. And that's not good news for the US if the same strains migrate northward over the coming months!

According to 7News out of Australia, 'Madeleine Jones was supposed to turn 19 on Saturday but while holidaying with her boyfriend in Queensland, she began to show symptoms of the illness.

Five days on, the law and business student was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane where she fell into a coma and never woke up.
It is not known whether Ms Jones was vaccinated or not, but those responsible for creating the flu vaccine have revealed it has done little to stop the epidemic.'

OK! So, now I'm sick!

Monday, October 2 - Last November 3 (3026)  , I got my flu shot with no ill effects. This year (2017) I got a shot on Friday September 29,  with the same four inactivated viral components (2 type A and 2 type B), but was sicker than a dog just two days later. (My symptoms included a sore throat, sore joints, fatigue and a dry cough). Pretty much text book symptoms for someone with influenza.

The real test, however, will be just how long the 'illness' lasts. A bout of real flu typically lasts one to two weeks, with severe symptoms subsiding in two to three days. However, weakness, fatigue, dry cough, and a reduced ability to exercise can linger for three to seven days. Therefore, I figured if I was still sick by Wednesday, I just might have gotten the real thing. Otherwise, it was likely some other 'bug' that was floating around. And then again, the problems could be due to a reaction to the quadrivalent vaccine I'd just recently received. I've since concluded that I have the real deal...

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My anxiety was only increased with this news coming out of Australia:

Down south, a record-breaking 172,247 cases have been confirmed by the Department of Health in 2017: 86,567 in New South Wales; 44,866 in Queensland; 17,326 in South Australia; 13,654 in Victoria; 3656 in Western Australia; 2707 in Tasmania; 2352 in the Australian Capital Territory and 1119 in the Northern Territory.

That’s a 156% increase on the number reported by this time last year, according to Immunization Coalition statistics. And the health service believes the number is even higher, with a delay in reporting thanks to administrative backlogs as officials struggle to handle the spike.

The rates of influenza are highest among people aged 85 years or older, with a secondary peak for children aged 5 to 9 as well as unusually high rates among under-fives.

Update: Day #4 and I think I'm getting a little better - At least I've managed to get out of bed a few times. This 'flu', assuming that's what it is, has been a real SOB. Look up the list of symptoms for influenza and I've had them all over the past few days...

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

Flu season is right around the corner!

The last eight years have seen relatively mild cases of the flu. Here's a few stats that might be helpful...

1918 Flu pandemic

An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads on a worldwide scale and infects a large proportion of the world population. In contrast to the regular seasonal epidemics of influenza, these pandemics occur irregularly—there have been about 9 influenza pandemics during the last 300 years. Pandemics can cause high levels of mortality, with the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic being the worst in recorded history; this pandemic was estimated to be responsible for the deaths of approximately 50–100 million people. There have been about three influenza pandemics in each century for the last 300 years, the most recent one being the 2009 flu pandemic.

You should get a flu vaccine before flu begins spreading in your community. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against flu, so make plans to get vaccinated early in fall, before flu season begins. CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine by the end of October, if possible. Getting vaccinated later, however, can still be beneficial and vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even into January or later.

This fall of 2017, the composition of U.S. flu vaccines has been reviewed and updated as needed to match currently circulating flu viruses. Flu vaccines protect against the three or four viruses (depending on which type of vaccine you get shot up with) that research suggests might be most common. For 2017-2018, three-component vaccines are recommended to 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
  

Quadrivalent (four-component) vaccines, which protect against a second lineage of B viruses, are recommended to be produced using the same viruses recommended for the trivalent vaccines, as well as a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (B/Yamagata lineage) virus

As of mid September, the incidents of flu in the US remained very low.

Flu season 2015-16 a flop?

The red line in the above graphic depicting the rate of influenza in Missouri tells the tale for the 2015-16 flu season! It all but flat-lined and for that reason, many have cause to be thankful. For me, I was a bit troubled. In general, when a fast mutating bug like the flu virus lies low, you can bet it's up to little or no good. For instance, there are troubling reports on the avian flu front world wide....

Time will tell as to how the balance of the flu season will pan out. The full pdf report for Missouri for the week end 1/162015 can be found here.

Ten things you can do to avoid the flu!

1. 

   Avoid crowded venues!

Visits to grocery stores and shopping malls should be kept to a minimum. If you do venture out, try and go during the early morning hours when fewer people are out.

2. Wash your hands!

If everyone remembered to wash their hands fairly often, we'd all see fewer colds and flu attacks! Make an effort to wash up after any outdoor excursion.

3. Avoid touching your face!
   The average person touches their face with their hands 1-3 times every 5 minutes! There! You just did it again! Try to curtail this nervous habit by groping your crouch instead. Just kidding.

4. Butt those hands!
   Butting hands with someone else, as a form of greeting is way better than shaking them. You'll walk away with a fraction of the germ transfer that would otherwise occur.

5. Avoid anyone who looks ill! - Duh!
   When your out and about, keep your situational awareness keyed up. Watch out for anyone who appears even slightly ill and if you see someone like that, head the other direction!

6. Get a flu shot!
   Of all the things you can to to help avoid a week or more of abject misery, a quick visit to your doctor, health clinic or pharmacy is just the ticket. But, remember, it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become effective in your system!

7. Use credit cards, not cash!
   During the hectic holiday periods when many of us tend to shop a lot more than we usually do, cash becomes a great medium of germ exchange. Switch, instead, to credit cards or even better opt to make most of your gift purchases on line!

8. Eat well, exercise and get plenty of sleep!
   Maintaining you over all conditioning, getting plenty of sleep and eating a balanced diet will do wonders for how you feel and can add some protection against rhino viruses and the flu bug.

9. Avoid stress!
   Right next to following the advice in #8, reducing stress has a direct impact on that status of you immune system. Anyone who has made it through a holiday like Christmas can attest to all the opportunities to become stressed out!

10. Skip those holiday parties and stay home!
    OK, this one might be hard to do.
    
    

    This post represents the sole opinion of the author and is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

WHO recommends changes to flu vaccine!

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday (Sept 25, 2014) recommended changing two of the three strains in trivalent influenza vaccines for use next year in the Southern Hemisphere, because of signs that changes in circulating strains have made them less well matched to the current vaccine.
The WHO called for switching the A/H3N2 and B strains in trivalent vaccines. For quadrivalent (four-strain) vaccines, which contain two B strains, the agency recommended no change in the second B component. The A/H1N1 strain in the vaccine also should stay the same, the WHO said.
"Increasing proportions of the recently circulating A(H3N2) and influenza B Yamagata-lineage viruses have undergone antigenic drift since the last vaccine recommendation," the agency said in a question-and-answer statement accompanying the vaccine recommendation.

Because of the time it takes to prepare vaccine viruses and grow them in eggs or mammalian cell cultures, the WHO recommends the vaccine strains in September for the following year's Southern Hemisphere flu season and in February for the Northern Hemisphere season.
The WHO recommends the following for trivalent vaccines:

• For H1N1, an A/California/7/2009-like virus
• For H3N2, an A/Switzerland/9715293/2013 virus
• For type B, a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus (belonging to the Yamagata lineage)
  

For quadrivalent vaccines, the agency recommended using the same strain as in the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine for the second B strain: B/Brisbane/60/2008, which belongs to the Victoria lineage.

Quadrivalent vaccines have been developed in recent years because of the difficulty of predicting which B lineage, Victoria or Yamagata, will dominate in any season. Yamagata viruses have remained dominant over Victoria strains over the past 8 months, the WHO said.

Antigenic drift

To assess the match between flu vaccines and circulating flu viruses, WHO laboratories take serum from vaccinated ferrets and humans and examine how well the antibodies in the serum react with circulating viruses.
Most recently isolated H3N2 viruses were antigenically distinguishable from the H3N2 virus in the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine, called A/Texas/50/2012, and more closely matched A/Switzerland/9715293/2013, the WHO said.

"Current vaccines containing A/Texas/50/2012 antigens induced antibodies in humans that reacted less well to A(H3N2) clade 3C.3a viruses," the agency said.
The strains in the current Northern Hemisphere vaccine are the same as in last year's version and in the 2014 Southern Hemisphere vaccine.

Low drug resistance

In a note on drug resistance, the WHO report said the "vast majority" of H3N2 and B isolates analyzed in recent months were susceptible to available antivirals, including oseltamivir (Tamiflu), zanamivir (Relenza), peramivir (sold in Japan as Rapiacta), and laninamivir (sold in Japan as Inavir).
It said most H1N1 viruses also were susceptible to the drugs, but a small proportion of tested H1N1 isolates showed resistance. In Japan, 2.7% of isolates showed resistance to oseltamivir and peramivir.

The flu got me!

After skating through the Holiday season pretty much unscathed, I had my comeuppance in mid January when I contracted the flu bug that's really been going around this year! And no, I did not get a flu shot! I really had thought I could stay uninfected if I washed my hands often and scrutinized the people around me. I also went into harms way when I sat down to breakfast one morning where one of the diners was obviously sick! I'm unclear if I got the bug from that one person or if its just simply so widespread it was only a matter of time!

But now that I have the flu, and even though I'm feeling miserable, I can take comfort in the fact that for this particular strain of the flu, I will now enjoy some immunity. How much and for how long depends on a lot of factors. Older folks like me tend to lose their immunity even after they've had the vaccine; generally the CDC asks that everyone get fresh vaccinations every year in the fall. The other thing with the flu is its ability to change or mutate from year to year. This requires a who new custom batch of vaccine be made. And sometimes, the technicians don't get the mix just right and so even a vaccine can fizzle out and not provide as much protection as was hoped for. I tell you, it a hard world out there!

This year, the vaccine turned out to be a good match and had I gotten a shot, I would have been protected after about 2 week. (That's the time it takes for my immune system to make the antibodies and have them on hand) – After all, a vaccine is really nothing more than 'deactivated flu virus'. It can't make you really sick, but fools the body into thinking it has the flu and so those antibodies get produced.

So, assuming I don't have any complications, I should be good to go in another few days. And, I've already made my mind up to get that shot next fall!

Fluageddon: The coming killer epidemic!

In the fall of the year 1918, a bad and terrible flu swept over the planet killing more people in America than were killed in the last century of warfare combined. As many as 50 million worldwide died horrible deaths as they either slowly drowned from fluids that filled their lungs or from other complications. Yes, influenza can and has enacted terrible suffering worldwide; a scenario continues to this day.

In America alone, the CDC has estimated that over a period of 30 years, between 1976 and 2006, flu-associated deaths in the United States range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people. But, that’s not the scary part!

Not counting the pandemic outbreak of the Swine flu, it’s now been over forty years since the world has seen a novel or new version of the flu. Fortunately, the influenza type Swine Flu (type A H1N1) was not very serious, but on a more ominous note it was highly contagious. In just three weeks, after first appearing in Mexico, the Swine Flu was seen in 20 countries on five continents! After just the first year, it has been estimated that 1 in 7 people have been exposed. And, even though this flu was relatively mild, it still managed to kill a lot of people. One study estimated that ‘globally there were 201,200 respiratory deaths (range 105,700—395,600) with an additional 83,300 cardiovascular deaths (46,000—179,900) associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1. 80% of the respiratory and cardiovascular deaths were in people younger than 65 years and 51% occurred in Southeast Asia and Africa.’ So, its apparent that even a mild version of the flu can result in very high mortality and morbidity rates, if it also happens to be highly infectious!

Now consider the so-call Bird Flu or as it’s most scientifically known, Type A H5N1. This flu is a true killer, killing as many as 50% of the people who contract it! That’s why it’s also referred to a HPAI which stands for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Thankfully, HPAI does not spread very easily to humans…at least not yet. Recent studies have indicated that the virus is contained mostly to birds at this time. However, they’ve also indicated that this particular version may be just a few mutations (or genetic tweaks) away from becoming an airborne Fluageddon! (A situation that could develop if it manages to gain the contagiousness of the Swine flu while retaining its high level of pathogenicity)!

Such a flu, should it be let loose on the world, would make the movie Contagion seem like a walk in the park! Imagine catching a ‘cold’ where you had only a fifty-fifty chance of survival! Imagine a ‘cold’ so infectious that tens of millions came down with it all in a short time. Emergency services, hospitals and clinic would be almost instantly overwhelmed. Key personnel who maintain essential services like gasoline, electricity and water might easily abandon their posts setting up instances of widespread outages that would only fuel a growing panic. Such a dastardly flu could easily topple governments and start wars all across the globe….

But, what are the chances of this ever happening, you might well ask? I don’t think anyone does, but I’ll tell you this! The World Health Organization along with the CDC are growing increasingly uneasy as time goes on. One article, How Worried Should We Be’ published in Nature describes some of the reasons behind their concern.

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The Cold and Flu season is upon us!

As the year 2011 comes to a grinding close, I have begun to focus on the year ahead and what that means. What is means is the start of the cold and flu season for a lot of us! That thought occurred to me as I sat at my favorite watering hole and looked down the line of occupied bar stools. It was with a sense of growing unease that I realized most of the people there were sick! The one other guy I had thought was healthy, besides myself, had just started sneezing repeatedly. I watched him a moment and then quietly got up and moved down a few stools.

I'm pretty sure that no one there had the flu, mainly because I asked them. Each of them had the sniffles and sounded like they were congested, but all of them said no when asked about pulmonary distress. Still, colds all by themselves, can be nasty and miserable. They can also be very contagious and I wondered how many of the 'regulars' had caught this bug from each other? With that thought in mind, I quickly finished my beer and left.

As I am writing this post, the flu season has yet to have done very much damage. The Center for Disease Control or CDC shows little or no influenza activity in any of the fifty contiguous states as of December the 17th. Maybe this will be a year with little or no flu-related deaths. Time will tell. Right now, only the state of Louisiana has reported slightly elevated levels as the map above shows. Let's all hope it stays green this winter!

Flu News for September 21, 2011

Early Flu Outbreak in Algeria

Sketchy reports are coming out of Algeria regarding a ' highly contagious seasonal influenza [that] is spreading at an astonishing pace through the villages of Saharidj, and M'Chedallah Ahnif.' The source added that the flu vaccines have not yet been distributed to health officials and that it is too early to talk about the start of the vaccination campaign against an apparent epidemic that has manifested itself so early in the season. This, according to the same un-named source.

WHO worried about evolutionary path of Avian Flu

The Avian flu, once thought to have been literally 'stamped out' in 2006 after millions of poultry were culled in many Asian countries is now making a comeback and that has some scientists at the World Health Organization worried.

Part of their concern lies with reports that the A(H5N1) strain of the flu is mutating rapidly and may be following the same evolutionary path as the 1918 H1N1 flu that killed millions. They also are reporting that some variations of this flu known as 'clades' are becoming resistant to vaccines now in use.

Effects of a novel pandemic flu strain on socioeconomic conditions in the US!

With most of the national attention focused on job creation and the economy these days, it's easy to see why not much press is being devoted to other issues. Among these would be the potential effects resulting from a virulent outbreak of pandemic flu!

In the scenario I'll cover here, the Avian flu makes a successful gene re-assortment in Hong Kong that enables it to freely move from bird to bird and human to human. Avian flu is a type A subtype (H5N1) strain that is already a proven killer with over 60% of human infections ending in death. The only restraint on this endemic strain, thus far, had been the rarity of transmission from infected poultry directly to humans. (So far, only 300 cases have been reported since it first appeared in 2003). But in this scenario, it has mutated and is now free to move with lightening speed among the population.

Within just a week or two of the first human to human transmission, the virus could easily be spreading within many countries in the world. A world, where a pandemic such as this, could easily cause severe shocks to the social and economic fabric living in countries already tottering on the brink of collapse.

In the United States, first word of a problem would arrive at the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control headquarters after laboratory testing revealed the true nature of the virus. Within days, a massive effort would be initiated to develop an effective vaccine. Unfortunately, this is a process that could easily take months to make happen. By that time the Avian, or Super Flu as it was now being called, would likely already be raging in many parts of the US. Hundreds of suddenly very sick patients would be showing up at big city hospitals, quickly overwhelming the staff. Not long after this, the media would pick up the story and then the real enemy would shows its face; panic! As almost always happens whenever a national disaster occurs, the first reaction of the public would be to flock to grocery stores to load up on food.

Most stores these days, only carry about three days of inventory. Quickly, then, the shelves would be stripped. Next hit would be gas stations and pharmacy's. Gas stations would close further augmenting the public fears. Citizens would sequester themselves at home in front of the TV, while the media did what it does best; scare the living wits out of everyone far and wide. Meanwhile the flu would keep on spreading, leaving a trail of sick and dying people in its wake.

Within a week or two, as the virus spread unabated over the land, people might well decide to stop going to work or public places. While that may seem to be a good thing, the absenteeism would also apply to critical public services like electrical power stations, fire houses and water distribution stations. Then, it becomes just a matter of time before needed services begin failing in one location after the next. News comes in from Europe that some countries are collapsing. Here at home the president promises prompt action. He tells everyone the worst is over. And the bodies keep piling up.

Then one evening shortly thereafter, you're at home with your family watching the grim events unfolding on the TV when the power suddenly goes out and stays out. A little later the water stops flowing! You look outside to see a fire that has broken out out one block over and yet no one responds. In short, a nightmare is in the making and you're powerless to stop it.

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Could this kind of horror story ever happen? I hope not. It could easily be that the worst case scenario might only result in a short interruption of services or maybe none at all. Perhaps a vaccine could be produced and distributed with unheard of speed, nipping the problem in the bud. You never know. But, then again, survival favors the prepared mind, if I may paraphrase.

Next post: Simple preparations you can do to be prepared in case disaster strikes!

Flu season 2010 starts off in strange fashion!

With the official start of the Flu season now just weeks away (October 15) here in the United States., reports by the CDC hint that something a little strange may be afoot. It seems the H1N1 virus that caused over fifteen thousand deaths in the States last season is nowhere to be found.  Only sporadic cases continue to crop up here and there. Typically, scientists would expect to see another wave of the so-called Swine Flu this winter. Instead, early reports are hinting at the re-emergence of an older strain known as H3N2. A strain of flu that has been around for some time and which was all but edged out of the way by the H1N1 variant. This could be relatively good news as this older strain is known to affect older people whereas the Swine Flu seemed to target the young, including teenagers.

While it is way to early to say that things may be ‘returning to normal’, this is still better news than what everyone had going into the 2009 season. The big question concerning many are exactly where has the H1N1 bad guy gone and will he stay there?