I have gotten a flu shot every year for the last 6 years or so to protect myself from getting the flu. Now a study has been released saying that the chance of dying from the flu is not reduced by getting the shot. I for one do not get the shot to save myself from death but instead to just not have that few weeks of possible downtime from getting a bad flu.

Still this is interesting, if people get vaccinated against the flu then why does in not lower fly deaths? Is this becasue the worst of the strains are not protected against?

The flu shot does help protect against specific strains of influenza but its ability to help prevent deaths among the elderly may have been exaggerated, a new study suggests.

Over the last 20 years in the U.S., vaccination rates among the elderly have increased from 15 to 65 per cent, but hospital admissions and death rates from all causes have not declined proportionately, said Dean Eurich, a clinical epidemiologist and professor at the school of public health at the University of Alberta. Read the rest of this entry »

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Did you know that Flu season hits it’s peak in the first week of February? I did not but I thought that flu season was a long drawn out affair but in fact the CDC, the center for disease control tracks flu season on a week by week basis.

This year it looks as though for once the flu shots that people have been getting are only 40% effective compared to most years average of about 90% effective. Early in the year the expected predominant flus are decided and a flu shot cocktail is devised to fight the main flus expected for the next winter. In 16 of the last 19 years the CDC has guessed right, this is not once of those years. Read the rest of this entry »

Flu season is coming and around my town there are clinics setup everywhere for people to get vaccinated against the flu.

One of the stories that I hear every year is how the people that develop the flu vaccination did not correctly figure out what strain of flu will be coming this year and this year is no exception. News stories are all about sensationalizing the stories that they have and every year I hear this “should you both getting vaccinated” Well yes of course you should get vaccinated against the flu.

Another story to watch out for is the urban legend that the flu vaccine actually gives you a small dose of the flu and this will teach your body how to dight it. The idea being that your body should fight of this small flu and you will be protected. Well this just is not the case anymore. Actually the flu vaccine is just a synthetic, dead virus that will teach your body with no downside at all. No it will not give you the flu.

Finally one story that I heard this weekend from the public health nurse was that in the event of a flu pandemic, the bird flu that we have been talking about the last couple of years,  the number one  prevention will be hand washing. As we wash our hands we break the cycle of bacteria and washing your hands will be the best way to stop the chance of catching any viruses this winter.