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.

-----------------------------------

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!

Whatever happened to the Swine Flu?

In 2009, the swine flu virus infected an estimated 60 million people resulting in 270,000 hospitalizations and 12,500 deaths. Since then, it pretty much dropped off the radar scope as far as most Americans were concerned.

But where did it go?

It turns out that this potentially deadly form of Influenza known as A(H1N1) is spending its time hanging out in both wild and domestic pigs in Central Africa. And, that has scientists worried that a new pandemic might be just around the next corner.

Scientists from UCLA in California, recently went to Cameroon to determine whether the H1N1 virus was present in African livestock. What they discovered was disturbing. Random testing turned up that almost a third of the pig were or had been harboring the exact same flu as was seen in humans during the 2009 outbreak, And although the virus has been detected in livestock in other countries, this was the first evidence of it in a location showing contamination directly from man to pig.

According to Thomas B. Smith, director of UCLA's Center for Tropical Research and the senior author of the research. "Africa is ground zero for a new pandemic. Many people are in poor health there, and disease can spread very rapidly without authorities knowing about it."

In America and other developed countries, safeguards are in place that prevent the spread of contagions from man to animals. This is not the case in places like Africa, where no such safeguards exist, and that has flu watchers worried.