Flu Season
Frankie had a sore throat yesterday, but it seems better today...Lydia and I are both fine, so far. Many people in Munfordville, however, have been very sick with a stomach virus. Lydia and I have stayed away for several weeks now, but are going today. I pray that God will protect her from sickness.I read an interesting report about the flu this morning that validated my decision not to vaccinate Lydia for the flu. The following is the news article from FoxNews:
"The flu season is getting worse, and U.S. health officials say it's partly because the flu vaccine doesn't protect against most of the spreading flu bugs. The flu shot is a good match for only about 40 percent of this year's flu viruses, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The situation has even deteriorated since last week when the CDC said the vaccine was protective against roughly half the circulating strains. In good years, the vaccine can fend off 70 to 90 percent of flu bugs.
This week, 44 states reported widespread flu activity, up from 31 last week. The number children who have died from the flu has risen to 10 since the flu season's official Sept. 30 start. The biggest surprise has been how poorly the vaccine has performed.
Each winter, experts try to predict which strains of flu will circulate so they can develop an appropriate vaccine for the following season. They choose three strains_ two from the Type A family of influenza, and one from Type B.
Usually, the guesswork is pretty good: The vaccines have been a good match in 16 of the last 19 flu seasons, Bresee has said.
But the vaccine's Type B component turned out not to be a good match for the B virus that has been most common this winter. And one of the Type A components turned out to be poorly suited for the Type A H3N2/Brisbane-like strain that now accounts for the largest portion of lab-confirmed cases.
H3N2 strains are treatable by Tamiflu and other antiviral drugs, but the other, H1N1 Type A strains are more resistant. Of all flu samples tested this year, 4.6 percent have been resistant to antiviral medications. That's up from fewer than 1 percent last year.
"This represents a real increase in resistance," Bresee said."
So in essence, experts just guess what strains will be prevalent and make a vaccination based on that. This year they were wrong.
Anyway, non-vaccinators should feel a little good about this. Although overall, it is more alarming in a way. Those that should have protection from receiving the vaccine (which would mean less transmission) are likely not protected. So the flu is more in circulation I guess.
Lydia is now taking a vitamin and she's eating a couple of oranges every day. Hopefully that will help.
posted by Amy @ 8:27 AM
