Random Rants ΟΔ: broken record

[Broken_Erika]

But on Friday I did manage to fix it! I was googling and I learned about something called a "fuel injector switch", and you can trip that if your car senses you've had an impact. I guess it's supposed to stop gasoline from pouring into your engine in case you're in a bad accident as a safety feature, so I just had to find where that switch is and press it in, and my car worked again! [Am I too old to collect my Girl Guides' mechanic patch?]

Achievement Unlocked.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So you get a vaccine every year against the same disease?

There are over a dozen influenza strains every year. Flu shot covers the most dangerous/prevalent one.

Exactly. It's guesswork sometimes, and some years they guess wrong. But still, some immunization is better than none.

Yes and yes. Have you had the flu before? If you're not sure then probably the answer is no. It's not like a worse cold. It sucks the life right out of you and can linger for a full week. For the most part only children and elderly are at real risk but there have been specific outbreaks that have killed hundreds of millions of able-bodied adults. I believe there was one in 1918-1919 that was almost as costly in lives as WWI itself was. They called it the Spanish Flu in the US, not sure what it was called in Argentina but it was a global outbreak so likely Argentina was hit and gave it a name.

It knocks me for a loop for longer than a week. It's not just the part of it where you're in bed trying to cope with it, but afterward, not quite sick enough to have to stay in bed all the time, but still too weak and dizzy to get a lot done outside of bed. And as the years have passed, it's gotten to the point where I don't dare get the flu - I'd end up in the hospital, with a lot more sick people, where some of the nurses are pretty damn clueless and careless about doing everything by the book because they hate the paperwork, and of course there wouldn't be anyone available to take care of Maddy.

As for the Spanish flu... that's what killed my great-grandmother. She was one of the many young adults who died. My grandmother was only 8, and my great-aunt was 13... and had to quit school to take over running the house while their father (my great-grandfather) ran the farm. There's an old picture in the photo album of my grandmother and great-uncle being sent off to school on horseback - they still had school until age 13.

I have only had it once in my life and that was enough to make me ready to take precautions to never get it again. I haven't caught it since I started getting flu shots although three weeks ago I came down with a sudden, high fever and complete exhaustion that may have been the flu. The only reason I'm not sure if it was the flu is because it passed in a day - the symptoms lined up with my previous illness, just not the length or severity.

What I have right this second is a particularly bad cold but not the flu. My nose didn't really run with the flu like it is right now, which is what always happens when I have a cold. With the flu, I just couldn't eat or move and I had a fever in the 100's for 7 complete days and ached something fierce. I lost a bunch of weight coming out of it and it was at least a couple of weeks after the illness passed before I fully recovered.

Since then I've had 5 or 6 flu shots but haven't had one yet this year. So I wonder if I did get catch the flu three weeks back but I've got some limited resistance from all the flu shots I've had since the first time I caught it.

Some strains hit people in different ways. My sympathies, as I know how awful it feels, both during and while you're trying to recover.

Anyways, if it's not obvious by the length of this post I definitely believe it is necessary and effective to get a flu shot every year.

A flu shot once made me feel quite ill for a couple of days. Since then I've been a little hesitant in getting the shot every year. Although most often I've had little or no immune response to a flu vaccine.

Aches and dizziness for a couple of days are a normal reaction to the flu shot. A lot of people mistake that and carry on, "OMG, the flu shot gave me the flu! " but that's not what is going on.

The rule at the flu clinics here are that once you've received the shot they want you to sit quietly for about 15 minutes at the clinic, just in case you do have an adverse reaction that's abnormal. The last thing they want is for someone to get the shot and then faint while driving or just walking around on the street.

Yes, I've had flu, with actual muscle pain, headaches, eternal congestion and so on.

The herd immunity aspect is one I'd not considered.

This general lack of understanding of herd immunity is why fewer parents are getting kids immunized and so they end up putting other kids at risk. Next thing you know, half the classroom is sick, and some kids whose immune systems are already compromised for some other reason are put at risk of having to be hospitalized.

This doesn't just apply to the flu. Every year there are notices that anyone who was at some public location on a particular day (usually a clinic or restaurant or school) should be alert for symptoms of flu, measles, etc. and if they feel sick, consult a nurse - who will then advise them as to whether they should see a doctor. What they don't want are a bunch of people clogging up the ER when they don't need to. But of course there will be people who are really at risk who should go there.

All in all, it's simpler to just get the damn shot and be done with it. And yes, I know there are valid medical reasons why some people can't... but "because so-and-so said on the internet that it causes autism" is not a valid medical reason.

Another simple thing is paying more attention to washing one's hands. I never touch elevator buttons with bare skin if I can help it, and the first thing I do after entering the apartment is wash.

 

[Takhisis]

Oh yes, definitely, a lack of vaccination of children is dreadful. ‘The internet says it causes autism’… let's not get over there or I'll go vitriolic.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Oh yes, definitely, a lack of vaccination of children is dreadful. ‘The internet says it causes autism’… let's not get over there or I'll go vitriolic.

Actually the internet, as in the CDC, says that vaccination causes harmful reactions up to and including death in a very very small percentage of cases. That's a fact that often gets lost in the nutjob furors over autism or whatever. While I sympathize with people who might legitimately need to be protected through herd immunity I also can understand why someone would say they'd rather not take the chance of a fatal reaction to a vaccination protecting their child against a disease with a similarly low mortality rate.

 

[Synobun]

That kind of resistance is immediately thrown out the window if they drove their kid to that doctor's appointment. Or let their child out in public in general.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

That kind of resistance is immediately thrown out the window if they drove their kid to that doctor's appointment. Or let their child out in public in general.

The same logic would say that as long as you are driving the kid to the store you might as well get them Twinkies for dinner. Bigger risks that are not avoidable don't inherently justify taking smaller risks that are.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Oh, go away reCAPTCHA. I selected all the stupid traffic lights and you know it.

 

[Snerk]

Another simple thing is paying more attention to washing one's hands. I never touch elevator buttons with bare skin if I can help it, and the first thing I do after entering the apartment is wash.

This plus not touching your face (as in rubbing your eyes, biting your nails ect) when you're out and about can do wonders for your cold frequency.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I wish avoiding biting my nails was as simple as 'don't do that'.

It's an obsessive-co pulsive behavior. I don't even conciously realize I'm doing it most of the time.

 

[Synobun]

I wish avoiding biting my nails was as simple as 'don't do that'.

It's an obsessive-co pulsive behavior. I don't even conciously realize I'm doing it most of the time.

Cover your nails in melted chocolate.

You'll realize.

 

[Snerk]

Have you tried that stuff that makes your nails taste gnarly? Regularly getting pathogens on your fingers is pretty unavoidable in the public sphere. It's the getting it into your body where you can make effective counter measures.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Have you tried that stuff that makes your nails taste gnarly? Regularly getting pathogens on your fingers is pretty unavoidable in the public sphere. It's the getting it into your body where you can make effective counter measures.

Yes I have tried that stuff. Unfortunately that stuff gets into your food everytime you cook and eat as it doesn't wash off easily.

 

[MaryKB]

Oh dear, I'm afraid I also bite my nails compulsively, so bad I can't wear polish or anything. And I agree it's totally harder to stop than you'd think.

One thing I've done recently is I bought a fidget spinner for my desk, and I think that's helping me. I'm finding when I'm feeling nervous or anxious I just sort of play with that instead of biting my nails, and I've been noticing I'm not doing so bad when I'm working. That really doesn't help me when I'm out and about though.

I still shake my head sadly when I hear things like what my friend said recently, how she won't wear skirts in winter because she's afraid of catching cold. YOU CAN'T GET SICK THAT WAY!

 

[Synobun]

Walking in the cold actually helps me when I'm sick.

Edit: The cleaning company really needs to stop putting a 3x hold on funds from my credit card when processing payment. Christ.

 

[The_J]

I also can understand why someone would say they'd rather not take the chance of a fatal reaction to a vaccination protecting their child against a disease with a similarly low mortality rate.

I need to look it up, but I'm pretty sure that none of the diseases you can get vaccinated against has a death rate as low as the vaccination itself.


Rant: Skin rash on the belly and getting down to the private parts.
And I'm also not managing to find a good time to get away from my nose spray addiction .

 

[Lexicus]

I also can understand why someone would say they'd rather not take the chance of a fatal reaction to a vaccination protecting their child against a disease with a similarly low mortality rate.

Do you think the prevalence of vaccines might have something to do with those low mortality rates?

 

[MaryKB]

Walking in the cold actually helps me when I'm sick.

Edit: The cleaning company really needs to stop putting a 3x hold on funds from my credit card when processing payment. Christ.

I find walking in cold air really helps with my congestion and clears my nose up pretty quickly. Oh and if your holds are all for the same amount, you should be able to call your bank and they can remove the duplicate ones, if they match exactly that's a very common and easy thing to fix.

And I'm also not managing to find a good time to get away from my nose spray addiction .

Oh dear, I totally feel your pain. My mother got me hooked on nose spray when I was very young, and I didn't get off until I was about 25 years old. I was getting so bad I always had to keep a bottle in my purse, and I'd almost have panic attacks if I ran out or forgot it somewhere, I needed a spray like almost every four hours. So one summer I just took two weeks off from work and decided I was going to stop, and I just quit and dealt with my suffering. And well I had extremely bad luck, because I just happened to catch cold that week, so I was dealing with my severe rebound and also head cold symptoms, so I was living in abject misery for weeks until I recovered. I did get over my dependency though and I've been happier for it, even though I still suffer from chronic congestion (I use breathe rite strips to sleep, and sudafed as needed).

I hope you're able to find an opportunity to get over that, my best wishes to you!

 

[Synobun]

I find walking in cold air really helps with my congestion and clears my nose up pretty quickly. Oh and if your holds are all for the same amount, you should be able to call your bank and they can remove the duplicate ones, if they match exactly that's a very common and easy thing to fix.

You expect me to call people and interact with them? In this economy?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I need to look it up, but I'm pretty sure that none of the diseases you can get vaccinated against has a death rate as low as the vaccination itself.

Do you think the prevalence of vaccines might have something to do with those low mortality rates?

Lex...Mortality rate refers to the chance of dying if you have contracted the disease, so no, mortality rate isn't affected by vaccination, which is intended to prevent contracting the disease in the first place. In the current world we have vastly reduced the prevalence of many diseases, riding on the shoulders of vital vaccines like smallpox and polio. But the current riders are attacking diseases that are decidedly not smallpox or polio. They are diseases that are more like inconveniences than threats. The MMR vaccine targets mumps, measles, and rubeola. When I was a kid anyone who made it as far as high school without having contracted all three of those was an odds defying freak (I know, because I didn't get rubeola until I got caught in an outbreak in boot camp, and the navy was like WTH, why didn't you people get this as kids?), yet kids almost all survived.

J...actually, they are comparable, though not the same. Comparable as in negligible for both in many cases. It's like being offered an implant that would protect you from lightning strikes. If I told you I had such a device, and the chances of contracting a fatal infection from the procedure to implant it were just one in a million, would you be inclined to buy one?

Now, as a parent there is a lot to consider besides mortality. Sick kids are a horrible inconvenience. My sister stayed home from high school when I had the measles. My mom stayed home from work when I had the mumps. A day's pay lost covers the cost of the MMR vaccine even if you have to pay cash is a totally valid argument. But miss me with the whole risking death and destruction bit. And if someone isn't swayed by the convenience let's not act like they are putting a loaded gun in their purse and leaving it in a shopping cart with a toddler...oh, wait, we actually just felt sorry for her when she got shot in the Wal-Mart, and we treat people who don't get their kids vaccinated like existential threats.

 

[The_J]

I hope you're able to find an opportunity to get over that, my best wishes to you!

Oh boy, I didn't know this could take this long.
The last time after a couple of weeks the addiction was so bad, that at one evening it got out of control, and I had to take it every few min.
I then switched to the salt water spray for a minimum relief, but at least it got me away from it.

I hope I'll have time to get through it before it comes to that.

J...actually, they are comparable, though not the same. Comparable as in negligible for both in many cases.

...er.... I'm sure you're looking at the wrong numbers here.
Wiki says measles are at 0.3% (USA).
If you read through https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4599698/ , you'll not see a death rate for vaccines nearly as high.

In another review of 1,266 deaths reported to VAERS from 1990–1997, nearly half of the deaths were due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with a peak in 1992–1993 and a decline after the “Back to Sleep” campaign was implemented [20].

1200 deaths in 7 years, when millions get vaccinated. Nowhere close to 1 deaths/3000 people.