A radio talk host went on the air the other day to say that he would rather stay home an live in a bubble. Going to a medical clinic would be exposing himself to pathogens on the loose and he would get sick, in his opinion. That seems to be an ignorant statement to make when this flu bug is already known as a potential killer. One should decide between getting vaccinated to stay alive or risking death but so much has been thrown out by the media concerning catching this modified swine flu that people have just turned a blind eye and will invent any excuse like the one cited so as not to go.
Pandemics arise when an epidemic spreads across the world. Once there is a spread of a disease within a given population that spread can then be propagated elsewhere. That is what makes the difference between sounding alarms for worldwide vaccinations and just telling people to stay at home, rest and take plenty of fluids or see their physician as if they had common colds. Once the disease is propagated overseas it can grow at an unprecedented amount and if there is not enough vaccine to counteract that or people do not get innoculated deaths can be in the millions.
When media and politics get in the way you can get confusion and bizarre circunstances. Looking at the supposed release of the vaccine by Ottawa, one can wonder why it took so long to get the vaccine out when winter is just around the corner and health officials knew that any worsening of the weather can trigger the onset of flu like symptoms and the flu. One wonders why the vaccine has been announced as being available yet the local health centers like the walk in clinics do not carry them, one has to contact the CLSC a government organized medical centre which supplies low cost health services in various districts. That body in turn informed me that the vaccines would be available at a local congress center and immediately I had visions of Florence Nightingale distributing morphine to cut down the pain in patients, when there were no vaccines. In other words I have a hunch that all the bureaucratic machinery won’t make getting a vaccine easier more efficient it will turn people away because of its inaccessibility, one central spot to dispense vaccines as if we were in war torn Europe?
Still if one does not go for a shot he can propogate the disease and spread it to others and if does not stay home while being ill that further worsens the risk of giving the flu to other people. One may be confused about washing your hands or not, shaking your hands or not. The bottom line is that you can avoid shaking someone’s hand for a while and washing them regularly, neither thing will kill you but it might save a life.
Young and old are prime targets as are pregnant women and the fragile. People who do not have a good immune system are at risk. People between those age groups may have a better chance for fighting the disease because that have already built up some sort of immunity. If one is fearful of a needle all you need to think of are the consequences of being laid up in bed for several weeks on a respirator because this flu can compromise your breathing. That has not happened to everyone but it has happened.