Flu
 

Anyone been sick with the flu this season?

My bf's pointed out a great site to keep track of the nation's flu hotspots.

http://www.flustar.com/

i have been sick with the flu for 2 weeks. I'm just starting to feel better:eek:

Dont tell me that!! I've had the flu for a week now and I'm still not feeling better. I've got finals next week! :(

i'm sorry! I'm sure u will be better very soon :)

Had the stomach flu about a month ago and today I went to the doctor and found out I have the upper respitory flu. I woke up at 2 am last night in so much pain (very achey) and hot. Luckily I took some Alieve, cuz it started combating my fever.
Now I'm just ill - soar throat, achey, congested, weak, and tired. The doctor told me to take the weekend off - :(

I'm sorry! Hope you start feeling better:)

I hope you're not going to wish every single person who says they're sick a "get better" lol. that'll be alot of dam* posts :P

I'm sick, too!!! I got it 2 weekends ago walking around in the rain and cold in Amsterdam with no umbrella, and it's still not going away. I'm all drippy from the nose and I HATE IT!

I had some kind of stomach virus. Was only a 24 hour thing. It wasn't much fun though.

its all about upping the post count...

I'm sick... and finals start next week! :)

apparantly the flu is hitting hard this year.. there have already been over 1000 reported cases in Dallas alone, and I think that is far more than their yearly average. They've also been saying something about mutated flu strains, so the flu vaccine isn't combating all the strains.

ETA: after going to the website and checking to see the "local flu report" for my city, we are WAY above national average. hmm.. that's comforting :p

to everyone who has the flu, feel better!! my area isnt a high risk area for it, but if i were at school it would be!! so maybe all this snow is the tradeoff for the flu??? feel better everyone!!

Yep, I had the flu, bronchitis and toncilitis all at the same time.

I still have a runny nose with a voice that sounds like Frogger from the Lil' Rascals thing going now.

how red is your neck of the woods? thankfully GA has fairly low #s

Colorado is pretty bad right now- we've already had several children die from flu complications.

Wash your hands and take your vitamins!!

FLU SHOT INFO
 

Hey Guys,
I just found some info. about the flu shot on a random website. If this is true, I am thinking twice about getting the flu shot...


Along with the flu vaccine, the flu shot contains:

Formaldehyde (a known cancer-causing agent)
Thimerosal (a neurotoxin linked to brain damage and Autoimmune diseases)
Aluminum (a neurotoxin linked to Alzheimer's and other Nervous System disorders)
Sulfite (a preservative that can cause shortness of breath, wheezing, diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and dizziness)
Phenol (also known as Carbolic Acid, which is a poison)
MSG
Antibiotics
Foreign genetic material, ie. kidney cell cultures of monkeys.
Every year that the CDC puts out their vaccine, it's basically a crap shoot. The previous year, they collect various flu viruses from pigs (as their immune system closely mimics that of humans) as well as humans, and attempt to predict which virus will emerge the following year. Statistically, they are right less than 40% of the time as to what the flu virus will be. Vaccinations in children are linked to allergies, nervous system disorders, cancer, ADHD, and a hundred other things.

I know when I went in to the doctor's office on Saturday morning they had masks available for people to wear in the waiting room. It's kinda freaky - like the movie OUTBREAK.

gosh I know that were one of the top 10 states for sickness right now. ive had pnemonea or whatever already and its only dec and my sisters both have the flu its horrible I hope my whole season isnt gonna be like this.


Nichole

My roomate has it bad. I got a shot, but unfortunately were waiting for the quacks at CDC to determine the effectiveness of the shot I did get.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is not flu now and hopefully doesnt turn into one later. i woke up this morning with a bad swollen throat. that is the only thing wrong with me, well other than a headache- i always get headaches. i will not get sicker. i will not get sicker!!!!!! i still have finals to take care of:(


edited to add- that stuff conained in the shot is just gross

The stuff in a Flu Shot is gross, but hell, I know those doctors coming up with it are much smarter than I am and I have to believe they know what they are doing and aren't going to put something that will make you worse off.

My mom's a nurse and has gotten a flu shot every year, plus she got the smallpox vaccine shot this past year and she is in good health, so is it really that bad? I don't think so.

I hope you're not one of those people who refuse to give your kids any vaccines b/c you don't believe it is smart injecting dead cells into your blood. (I know people like that and they always bring up what is in the vaccine to try and convince others not to get them)

(sarcasm)
Wait a second....maybe you shouldn't get the flu shot, hell don't get any vaccine shots so you can all die and other people who chose to get them will live...survival of the fittest.
(sarcasm)

-Mark

Also flu shot this year isn't the exact strain going around, but frmo reports I've heard so far, it is close enough to where you may still get the flu but it won't be nearly as severe and instead may be like a bad cold. I like those odds better than being as sick as some other people have described.

The news, etc. says it's a huge epidimic... In substitute teaching, absenteeism isn't that much above normal... I just don't see it.

I think that the flu season this year is being overhyped.

i said to my mom 'wow it doesnt take much to get this country bent out shape'

side note: it is not fun to have a swollem throat and a headache and have to get up at 4:15 a.m. for work. and i have a final today! i want to go back to sleep!!!!:mad:

Flu Shot
 

A little off subject but.....

I went to the doctor on Tuesday because of problems with Asthma and an ear ache (turns out I have a bad infection in both ears) Anywho, the doctor suggested that I go ahead and get my flu shot while I was there...I've always heard you shouldn't get them if you are already sick. The shot didn't hurt so bad, but my arm is still sore 2 days later. :(

Flu Outbreak Hits Hard in 24 States

By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - Federal officials said Thursday that the flu has hit hard in 24 states, nearly doubling the number since last week and including almost the entire Western half of the country.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) said the flu has hit all 50 states at least sporadically, and the season has not yet peaked nationally.

The early and intense outbreak in some Western states has swamped many hospitals with sick children and dried up vaccine supplies.

As far east as Ohio, several schools closed for the rest of the week because so many students are absent with the flu. At Madison Junior High School in Mansfield, 250 of 900 students were out sick Wednesday, principal Timothy Rupert said.

"We've never closed down for flu," said Rupert, who has worked at the school about 60 miles north of Columbus for 23 years.

At least 11 children have died in the outbreak, and some experts predict this year's death toll easily could surpass the annual average of 36,000 deaths.

However, epidemiologists are not ready to predict just how severe the flu season will be, since it still may peak as early as December, rather than February, which is the norm.

On Thursday, the CDC added Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia to the list of states with widespread flu activity, meaning outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illnesses and lab-confirmed influenza samples in at least half the state.

Last week, only Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming were listed as having widespread activity by the CDC.

Anecdotally, this flu season seems to be worse for children, and the CDC said it plans to closely watch flu complications among them. Flu and its complications are the sixth leading cause of death nationally among children age 4 and younger, according to the CDC.

The CDC also said Tuesday it is trying to redistribute what's left of the 83 million flu shots made, and may buy fewer than 500,000 additional doses from a British maker.

I had the flu and ended up in the hospital. I think there is some truth to the reports that the flu is worse this year. Case in point: I have never in my 21 years had the flu. Really. I'm an epidemic magnet, meaning if it's going around, I will catch it. Except the flu. Sometimes I got the shots, other times not. This year, I wish I had (save for the formaldehyde, thimerisol, and other nasty preservatives). I ended up getting severly dehydrated and my heart was beating irregularly. Not to mention I couldn't breathe because my chest was so sore from coughing. It's dangerous guys really. Please please stay healthy!

I'm a little frustrated that the news keeps reporting all these flu "complications" but won't say what they are. I keep reading that pneumonia is a big one, and dehydration, but that's about it. I feel like maybe I'm missing something important.

Another one is staph (sp?) infection and strep throat. That's just what they told me at the doctor's office. I'm more concerned with pneumonia because I've got so much fluid in my lungs that it rattles. :(

I hear ya on the lung problems... I feel like there's a good chance I've been coughing up important organs or something.

But how do you know when you need to go to the hospital? They just don't say in the paper or on the news. It's frustrating!

My doctor said to call if my symptoms changed for the worse...like if you're having shortness of breath, if you're coughing up blood or really nasty colored flem, or if your symptoms don't go away or decrease in severity in a few days.

That website link might have some helpful suggestions on what to look for!

You were saying about the staph infections being a threat... I graduated from Lycoming college a year ago and one of the star football players this year, Rikki Lannetti, died suddenly this past SAturday evening from a staph infection and liver failure caused by the infection. Pretty scary stuff...here is the story if anyone is interested...

http://www.lycoming.edu/sports/footb...fb_6dec03b.htm

My niece came up with the flu last Sunday. She lives in Ft. Worth/Dallas area. I read on the net that you are contagious one day before the symptoms show up and
the AVERAGE maximum days is 10. They also said that young children can remain contagious longer than that!

I'm a little nervous about her coming home since she will be staying at Mother's house and she is in a very high risk category...

The staph infection's severity is part of our overuse of antibiotics. It's a super stain.

Take care everyone.
THEY say it's easier to get it than SARS. Just breathing in the same area of someone can transmit it to you.

my parents are both sick. :(

they got their flu shot back in sept, I have yet to get mine-- I think our family doctor is getting those nose sprays in on friday...

Yep, there's officially an outbreak in my area. :( A bunch of my coworkers are sick. I just started, so I can't take sick time yet, so I pretty much can't get sick... I did get the flu shot, so hopefully that will help.

To everyone who does get the flu, I hope you feel better. Get lots of rest and lots of fluids. When you do start feeling better, don't try to do too much right away or you may relapse.

I personally haven't been sick but a girl at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC had a girl die from the flu 2 days ago. The paper said she had other complications as well. I am guessing that she had some complications that the flu just made worse, like asthma.

WAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Now it's my turn. :( I've been feeling kinda sick for the past couple of weeks but I just haven't relaxed and tried to get better. Now I'm feeling really crappy.

My friend tried to cheer me up by telling me that there have been 4 reported deaths in Central Florida from the flu. greeeeat.