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The Inside Scoop Sample: Swine Flu Sign Up to Receive The Inside Scoop If you think that you can use the type of information that The Inside Scoop can give you, and you are a Pennsylvania 86 dealer, you can sign up for The Inside Scoop. Once we verify your dealership information, you will begin to receive The Inside Scoop each time it is published. The Inside Scoop will be published as information is ready which will likely be once a month but probably more often. Click here to sign up for The Inside Scoop 2010. Things you may have heard already: • Swine Flu will likely strike about 60% of the U.S. population • As temperatures get cooler and drive people inside it will get worse. • The number of people that die from Swine Flu infections is no greater than the % that die from seasonal flu. • Swine Flu does hit young people <65 years old harder. • Only about 1/3 of flu infections are passed by touching. 2/3 are passed in the air from sneezes, coughs or even droplets expelled by talking. Therefore washing your hands and cleaning surfaces will lower your risks only slightly. • States are beginning to administer Swine Flu Vaccinations at public clinics. • There is not enough Swine Flu or Seasonal Vaccine to go around--and there won’t be for a long time. Things you likely didn’t hear. • Very few people die from any kind of flu, Swine Flu or Seasonal Flu--they die of bacterial infections which take advantage of weakened lungs and immune systems. Meaning they die of bacterial pneumonia. • You can get a vaccination for bacterial pneumonia. I’ve gotten mine within the last 10 years. It cost me about $30 at my family doctor. It is supposed to protect me for life (though I see that now the recommendations say that I should have another at age 65) It is called pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) • While states are vaccinating people in high risk groups and people can sign up for appointments, the consent form and immunization does not require any proof other than the person checking one of the high risk boxes. There is no information requested in regards to proof of the high risk condition or any personal physician information collected. Therefore a person could get an early vaccine by claiming he/she was high risk. • Tamiflu is an antiviral medicine which lessens the symptoms of flu viruses. There is no reason why a family physician couldn’t prescribe a regime of Tamiflu that you could keep on hand. The drug has to be used within the first 48 hours of the onset of the flu--you might not even be able to get an appointment with your physician in that small amount of time. • At this point Swine Flu has not overwhelmed hospitals. In the US it appears that for every 1000 people who get infected, about 40 people need admission to hospital and about one person dies. That doesn’t sound too bad until Swine Flu is pandemic. Then, as the hospitals get swamped, they run short of ventilators because Swine Flu victims are on ventilators a long time. That makes the death rate jump up considerably higher. So--I’d recommend that you get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) and also the Swine Flu vaccination. If Swine Flu becomes more and more widespread, your chance of surviving it gets less. • Swine Flu is panzootic which means it is widespread in animals (and birds.) Avian Influenza H5N1 (Bird Flu) is as well. If a bird or animal gets both types of flu at the same time, different types of viruses that enter the same cell can swap genes and make a new form of influenza. The fear is that this will happen and it will produce a strain of flu that has Bird Flu’s killing potential (over 50% death rate) and Swine Flu’s infection rate. Most people get it when in close quarters for any length of time with someone that has it. At this point in time, Bird Flu doesn’t go from person to person well so it’s unlikely that the influenza mix will happen there. Pigs, turkeys, cats and birds all can get both types fairly easily so it is likely that the new strain will arise in one of these groups. Pigs and ducks are the strongest possibilities and also it is most likely to happen in Asian where pigs, ducks and humans live in close quarters. Swine Flu is spreading through Asia, and a number of experts are concerned about this mix producing a rebound which comes back through the human population causing massive numbers of deaths. That’s a disaster scenario but it is also a real possibility considering the world is overcrowded and individuals travel freely throughout it taking their germs with them. My recommendation is that you get vaccinated for Swine Flu, Seasonal Flu and also a pneumococcal vaccination.
What is the pneumococcal vaccination? Pneumococcal vaccination is a method of preventing a specific type of lung infection (pneumonia) that is caused by Pneumococcus bacterium. There are more than 80 different types of pneumococcus bacteria--23 of these are covered in the current vaccination. The vaccine is injected into the body to stimulate the normal immune system to produce antibodies that are directed against pneumococcus bacteria. This method of stimulating the normal immune system to be directed against a specific microbe is called immunization. Pneumococcal vaccination is also referred to as Pneumococcal immunization. Pneumococcal vaccination does not protect against pneumonia caused by microbes other than pneumococcus bacteria, nor does it protect against pneumococcal bacteria strains not included in the vaccine. It is reassuring to note that of the 80 different types, the vast majority of infections are caused by the 23 types contained in the vaccine.
Who should get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23)? * All adults age 65 years or older * Anyone age two years or older who has a long-term health problem such as cardiovascular disease, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism, lung disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, or leaks of cerebrospinal fluid * Anyone who has or is getting a cochlear implant * Anyone age two years or older who has a disease or condition that lowers the body’s resistance to infection, such as Hodgkin’s disease, kidney failure, nephrotic syndrome, lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, HIV infection or AIDS, damaged spleen or no spleen, or organ transplant * Anyone age two years or older who is taking any drug or treatment that lowers the body’s resistance to infection, such as long-term steroids, certain cancer drugs, or radiation therapy * Adults ages 19-64 who have asthma * Adults ages 19-64 who smoke cigarettes * In special situations, public health authorities may recommend the use of PPSV23 after PCV7 for Alaska Native or American Indian children ages 24 through 59 months who are living in areas in which risk of invasive pneumococcal disease is increased. * In special situations, public health authorities may recommend PPSV23 for Alaska Natives and American Indians ages 50 through 64 years who are living in areas in which the risk of invasive pneumococcal disease is increased. |