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Is the swine flu vaccine safe?


Larv

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As usual Americans believe they are the "first" people to suffer from swine flu. As someone from New Zealand who has been through a winter of swine flu I can say that it was a most unpleasant flu and anyone who suffered from it would gladly have taken the vaccine. I was offered tamiflu by my doctor but decided that, as my symptoms were "flu" and not "swine flu" (i.e. no tummy upset) I would choose the usual treatment for flu. Bed rest, pain killers and lots of fluid.

 

I was very sick for two weeks and took about another four weeks to feel completely well. If I had been diagnosed with swine flu I would have taken anything they could give me.

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A simple three step cleaning process can help preventing the spread of flu viruses and kill up to 99.99999% of germs. You have to completely decontaminate the room, and then prevent re-contamination with effective cleaners and sanitizers.

Though good personal hygene is important to avoiding illness, not only flu but from other viruses and germs, there are several reasons to be skeptical of some approach that require “completely decontaminating” a room.

 

Obviously, if you depend living in a germ-free room/house to prevent illness, you can’t leave it other than in something like a germ-proof suit and helmet – not the sort of thing people who like to go outside, mingle with other people, etc. could likely abide.

 

Psychologically, the idea of avoiding illness through living in a 99.99999% germ-free environment is reminiscent of the lifestyles of famous phobia sufferers such as Howard Hughes.

 

Biologically, while avoiding pathogens your immune system can’t defend against well (eg: HIV viruses contracted via unprotected sex) is prudent, attempting to avoid all pathogens might actually result in your immune system failing to develop and maintain appropriate responses to them, making you more likely to become ill when unavoidably exposed. One should also be wary of cleaning living areas in such a way that destroys nearly all microorganism, because this will kill even benign ones that compete with prevent dangerous ones. Such cleaning can actually result in “booms” of strange, unpleasant, and dangerous microorganism.

 

In short, washing ones hands with plenty of soapy water or an alcohol or non-alcohol based hand gel after handling objects and surfaces handles by many people, or your own feces (ie: washing your hands after using the toilet), or wearing a paper mouth and nose mask in crowds, are effective ways to reduce the risk of contagious illness. Having a strong immune system through general good nutrition, exercise, sleep, and inoculations, is, however, your ultimate and best line of defense.

Read more here: Preventing The Flu

If you read the CLEANpHIRST brand sales website linked above, you’ll discover that the non-alcohol based cleaners being sold there are benzalkonium chloride based. This is an effective disinfectant, but a common one, being the active ingredient in Lysol brand household cleaners that can be bought inexpensively at most stores. It’s also not without toxic risks, so should be used carefully after reading about it.

 

Historically, the Lysol brand appears to have much in common with the CLEANpHIRST brand to who’s website Michael links, rising to prominence and commercial success during the 1918 Spanish flu (also an H1N1 flu virus) pandemic. Both Lysol, and I expect, CLEANpHIRST cleaners, are effective disinfectants that can prevent the spread of flu and other viruses from touching contaminated surfaces.

 

I was startled to read, in the above linked wikipedia article, that, until around 1960, Lysol was a popular vaginal cleaner, and even a vaginal contraceptive. :) For the same reason I mention above – the problems cause by killing not only unwanted, but beneficial microorganism – after decades of promotion by MDs, using Lysol as a vaginal cleaner was and is presently discouraged by them.

As usual Americans believe they are the "first" people to suffer from swine flu. As someone from New Zealand who has been through a winter of swine flu I can say that it was a most unpleasant flu and anyone who suffered from it would gladly have taken the vaccine.

I live in the US, and don’t think many Americans believe the H1N1 swine flu originated in North America.

 

Because early outbreaks of it in 2009 were detected in Mexico, and some Mexicans in the US became ill with it in the southwest US, were treated, and in at least one cease, died in US hospitals, some Americans think of it as having originated in Mexico (a popular name for the 2009 “swine flu” is the “Mexican flu”). Most experts think it actually appeared in Asia and was brought to North America by a human traveler, but it’s exact history isn’t known.

 

In my experience, as in many countries, Americans tend to think of pleasant things, such as candy and television, as having originated in their countries, unpleasant things, such as pandemic diseases, as having originated elsewhere – a kind of ubiquitous cultural xenophobia.

I was offered tamiflu by my doctor but decided that, as my symptoms were "flu" and not "swine flu" (i.e. no tummy upset) I would choose the usual treatment for flu. Bed rest, pain killers and lots of fluid.

 

I was very sick for two weeks and took about another four weeks to feel completely well. If I had been diagnosed with swine flu I would have taken anything they could give me.

What leads you to conclude you had swine flu, rather than ordinary seasonal flu, Eagle :QuestionM The seasonal flu can be pretty severe, sometime even fatal (on the order of 1 case in 1000, compared to 2009 swine flu fatality rate of about 1 in 60).

 

To the best of my knowledge, the only reliable tests that can distinguish H1N1/09 from seasonal flu are gene (RT-PCR) or viral culture test. Lab resources for processing these tests are limited, so expect in cases leading to hospital admissions or death, are rarely done. So, unless you recall having been mouth, nose, or through swabbed, or having some sputum collected, it’s likely nobody knows if you had swine flu or not.

 

Source: Wikipedia article “2009 flu pandemic”.

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Maybe we need a report feature?

 

I took the Swine flu vaccine four weeks ago, because I'm in a high risk group (chronic asthma). No side effects apart from a numb shoulder for a couple of days, and I felt unusually tired the day after the shot. I also took the "regular" flu shot one week earlier.

 

My wife and two daughters took it this week. No side effects.

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Due to complications from air pollution and working with people who got swine flu, I received the vaccine over a month ago. No serious complications. Had two or three days of slight fever and sore muscles afterward. That was all. I appear to be immune to it. Haven't had any flus or colds yet this season. My brother has a nasty flu, though he received a normal influenza shot. I have some suspicions it's swine flu, because he was unable to get vaccinated for swine flu. It's been really hard on him for weeks, but he's on the mend.

 

What's bothering me more is the terrible air pollution and winter inversion right now. Yesterday I woke up with the worst headache and burning eyes. Moved more pots and plants into my room and this morning I woke up feeling much better.

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reporting in. minor sorneness at injection site for 2 days. what i expect for most injections, particularly those administered by a male. :cheer: :xparty: i am breathing much easier :cheer: because i'm around my young grandchildren. they did by the way screen for high-risk categories at the pharmacy before they would vaccinate people.

 

that's all i guess, because obviously i'm not dead. ;) . . . . . :)

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So far #1 starters it looks like Tamiflu might not even prevent H1N1 Swine Flu..

 

Show us some Numbers that it does prevent Swine Flu/ ??..

 

When my daughter was at camp this summer, one of the girls in her cabin came down with swine flu (confirmed), and they gave everyone else in the cabin a full-run of Tamiflu. None of those half dozen did (and mom was pretty happy about that!).

 

That's six more in the "didn't get it" column for the running average....

 

I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages, :oh_really:

Buffy

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When my daughter was at camp this summer, one of the girls in her cabin came down with swine flu (confirmed), and they gave everyone else in the cabin a full-run of Tamiflu. None of those half dozen did (and mom was pretty happy about that!).

 

That's six more in the "didn't get it" column for the running average....

 

I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages, :oh_really:

Buffy

 

Confirm that with some scientific data. Thats the rules around here. you can't just say anything without proving your Data..

 

:irked:

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Confirm that with some scientific data. Thats the rules around here. you can't just say anything without proving your Data..

 

:irked:

What are you talking about? It is data. Just because it doesn't conform to your preferred conclusion doesn't mean it can be discounted.

 

Perhaps you'd like a pointer or two to sites that can teach some basic statistics?

 

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish, :oh_really:

Buffy

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What are you talking about? It is data. Just because it doesn't conform to your preferred conclusion doesn't mean it can be discounted.

 

Perhaps you'd like a pointer or two to sites that can teach some basic statistics?

 

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish, :oh_really:

Buffy

 

Yeah, I did see those numbers...

Thanks :

 

I hate a bad hypocrite :irked:

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I hate a bad hypocrite :umno:

Well then stop being one silly! :irked:

 

There's been lots of confirmatory data posted in this thread and nothing from you except to claim that "there's not enough." I think you might want to take the advice you so rudely gave out in post 8....

 

It's hard to decide if TV makes morons out of everyone or if it mirrors Americans who really are morons to begin with, :oh_really:

Buffy

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I took multiple Vaccines when I went as an exchange student to Venezuela.

No Problem.

I'm not slamming vaccinations unlike Moontanman might suggest. I took them. I still got the Flu whille I was there. a real Nasty South American bug

 

I wouldn't compare that/those to the modern H1N1 Virus.

Theres NO reliability that it even works.. Bettere to take it Yes in many cases.

 

Just take the Shot so you'll STFU. Thats what you're supposed to do.. Don't question anything. Just take the shot, Its good for you.

Its Not lke these companies make any money off it. Its all for the benefit of humans like you.

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I'm not slamming vaccinations unlike Moontanman might suggest. I took them. I still got the Flu whille I was there. a real Nasty South American bug

If you take a look at how flu vaccines work, you'll note that they are custom cocktails based on what the pharma folk *predict* will be prevalent 6 months in advance, and for civilized areas. That something that creeped out of the Amazon jungle that wasn't programmed into the specific batch you took is hardly surprising.

Just take the Shot so you'll STFU. ... Its all for the benefit of humans like you.

Right, the thing that gets lost is that every person who doesn't take it statistically increases the likelihood of pandemic spread. It's one more person who's spreading it around that infects ten more and so on in geometric progression.

 

When you think about it, it's the ultimate in selfishness to not get the shot because it causes potential harm to so many others.

 

What ever happened to the ethos of the Greatest Generation? Just every man for himself and everyone who disagrees with you can well, you know...

 

And don't worry Rac, I'm sure that underneath all that testosterone poisoning that there's a human down in there somewhere.

 

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness, :oh_really:

Buffy

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If you take a look at how flu vaccines work, you'll note that they are custom cocktails based on what the pharma folk *predict* will be prevalent 6 months in advance, and for civilized areas. That something that creeped out of the Amazon jungle that wasn't programmed into the specific batch you took is hardly surprising.

 

Right, the thing that gets lost is that every person who doesn't take it statistically increases the likelihood of pandemic spread. It's one more person who's spreading it around that infects ten more and so on in geometric progression.

 

When you think about it, it's the ultimate in selfishness to not get the shot because it causes potential harm to so many others.

 

What ever happened to the ethos of the Greatest Generation? Just every man for himself and everyone who disagrees with you can well, you know...

 

And don't worry Rac, I'm sure that underneath all that testosterone poisoning that there's a human down in there somewhere.

 

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness, :oh_really:

Buffy

 

At least you recognize hormones in the process.

 

We should pump all pregnant females with the Vaccinne thats still unproven First !

To make sure they're the first to be secured

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