flu, RH factor, chickenpox vaccine

[Guest guest]

I saw a report on the ABC nightly news; this is the article I found

posted on their site.

by a Vogel

ABCNEWS.com

B O S T O N, Jan. 11 — Doctors around the

country say it’s tough to get the big picture

when they’re swamped with cases, but this

year’s flu epidemic is much like those of years

past. What’s different is that flu is suddenly

this year’s buzzword.

“ER room visits are up and some have had to

temporarily close,” says Treanor, associate

professor of medicine at the University of Rochester

School of Medicine in New York. But, he adds, “All of

these things are quite typical of this time of year.”

Epidemic As Usual

In fact, Treanor says this is the fourth year in a row

that

flu levels have been high. “I don’t think that the

influenza

season is particularly worse than the past two years

have

been.”

Of course, some states are getting hit harder than

others. “It’s worse than last year and about the same

as

two years ago,” says Emmerman, in the

Department of Emergency Medicine at the Cleveland

Clinic Foundation.

But there is more to the story. “The number of

influenza cases seems a bit higher than previous years,

but this increase does not by itself account for the

remarkably higher volume of recent emergency

department visits,” says Theodore Delbridge in the

Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of

Pittsburgh Medical Center. “It’s just a bad time for

the

myriad of viruses that periodically affect us.”

“Part of the problem is that what people call the

flu is

an amazingly large spectrum of things,” says Greg

Poland, chief of the Vaccine Research Group at the

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and chair of the

National Coalition for Adult Immunization in Bethesda,

Md. “We call any illness that occurs in the winter

flu.”

But influenza, he says, “is a very distinct syndrome.”

It

comes on hard and fast, he says, with severe muscle

aches, high fever, sore throat and a host of

complementary symptoms that send you running for your

bed.

A New Test

Oddly, doctors may fare little better than the average

Joe

at making the distinction between real flu and merely

flulike symptoms.

Just this year, a handful of new rapid response

flu

tests have become available so physicians can now

diagnose influenza A or B within about an hour. Until

now, doctors relied on their clinical judgment and

occasional laboratory testing, which could take several

days.

But Kimberle Chapin, a physician at the Lahey

Clinic

in Burlington, Mass., who is studying one of these

rapid

response tests, has found evidence that doctors may see

influenza where it doesn’t exist. Of 168 flu tests

requested by doctors at her hospital, only 39 percent

turned out to be flu.

Give Me Drugs

A few months ago, it wasn’t all that important

whether doctors made an accurate diagnosis. But now

there are two new antiviral drugs, Relenza and Tamiflu,

that are effective against both influenza A and B. And

for

these drugs to have any significant effect on flu

symptoms, people have to take them within the first 48

hours of contracting the illness.

“Drug companies are pushing hard and dumping tons

of money into ads,” Chapin says. “Newman is the flu

showing up in your living room. People see this and

say,

‘I’ve got the flu, I want that Relenza stuff.’”

Bishop, CEO of Unity Physician Group in

Bloomington, Ind., agrees. “We are using a lot more

antiviral medications this year and a lot more people

are

requesting them.”

Many physicians say they believe advertising

dollars

may be partly responsible for the extra flu-related

traffic

they are seeing. “There’s much more awareness of flu as

a disease than there has been in the past,” Treanor

says.

contributed to this report.

SEARCH ABCNEWS.com FOR MORE ON …

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Also, thanks for the info in response to my " What? " post; I'm O neg.,

but it was never an issue as my husband is also-no way we could produce

a positive child. Even if there was, I'd think hard before submitting to

the " treatment. " I have read a lot about this; I was just unclear on the

abreviations!

The AAP's reccommendation that ALL children be vaccinated for chicken

pox is, IMO, irresponsible, for at least three reasons. One, it's yet

another mandate that infringes upon parental choice/ two, such policies

seriously limit the potential for future long-term studies by effectivly

eliminating the control group. If a sizable percentage of the population

were allowed to remain unvaccinated by choice (with this or any other

vaccine) there would be a way to compare their long term effects with

those of the vaccinated population. With all, or most, vaccinated, such

studies are virtually impossible, and it can continue to be said that

" there are no long term studies " . It's a self-fullfilling prophesy (and

very likely intentional, at least on some level) I mean, if everyone in

a given country is vaxed, how do you tell what's " normal " ? What level of

asthma or learning disorders, or cancer, etc. is to be expected in an

unvaxed population, all other variables being the same? The tiny

percentages current mandates generate are too easily dismissed as not

representative of the general population.

Finally, the policy does the same thing as was done with measles, etc;

it pushes the disease into the older (and very young) population where

it is much more serious. ( " Immunity " wears off so adults become

vulnerable, maternal antibodies are lost so infants are put at risk.)

There are none so blind, I guess.

I sent an email re' the Parade article " Don't Worry about vaccines. " It

was quite a long and comprehensive one, as there was so much in that

piece that was false or misleading. I pointed out, amoung other things,

that the Dr. reccommended the Lyme vaccine for adults without mentioning

the pending lawsuit charging the maker with failing to disclose that one

third of the population is genetically predisposed to develop a form of

arthitis from exposure to their product. (He also said that there was a

vaccine available for rhotovirus, but you should ask your Dr. if your

child needs it. Gee, I thought that was recalled! Guess parents don't

need to know that; it might make them worry.

Love, Kim. Long-term breastfeeding, family bedding, non-vaxing,

vegetarian, cloth diapering, home-schooling, family businessing,

non-medicating, home-birthing mom to Forest, 7yrs and Lily, 3 mths.

(Just wanted to try that and see what I could come up with! LOL!!)

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