2 reasons: *Flu is somewhat contagious *Kids are THE PERFECT bio-weapon, because they almost never wash their hands, they're lickers and tasters, and we humans are sort of fond of kids and (more especially!) grandchildren. I remember when I was a kid, they used to.....hmmmm....how can I put this delicately in a room full of Prius drivers??? .....they used to exaggerate "just a little bit" in our schools, about the pollution in Japan's cities. It was sort of a "don't let this happen to you!!!" kinda thing intended to make us believe that we were destroying the planet, yada, yada. They would show photos of people walking down the sidewalks wearing surgical masks, and advise us that we should be responsible little stewards of the planet or by the year 2000 we would all be wearing them. Anyway.....people who travel frequently know that in SOME SOCIETIES, it's considered to be somewhat rude to hack, cough, and sneeze in public without taking at least some token measure to protect your friends and neighbors from getting slimed by your illness. This is not entirely effective for influenza of course, and it's currently leading to a lot of internet traffic about which side of the mask goes out, and whether or not we should bother in the first place but I think that we cal all agree that it does not hurt! Hard to believe in a nation that's STILL uncertain about vaccinations even though they've been around since the late 1700's. Yes. You read that right! Over 200 years! Anyway, I'm thinking also that if one could put some sanitizing stations in some of the schools......not too many in each school, mind you!!....and tell the kids that they should not touch them, then we should see a dramatic diminution of the kid-spread flu. YMMV!
At a vitamin D seminar that I attended about 10 years ago one of the presenters talked about getting a study approved. It was something like comparing the effects of 400 IU/day versus 2000 IU/day. He had trouble with an ethics review board. They didn't like the stated effects of the 400 dose. His excuse for including it in the study was that it was the current standard of practice. There is a pervasive problem with both vitamin D and vaccine practice in that they ignore body size. Infants are supposed to get the same dose as a 300 pound adult. Vaccine dosage comes in two sizes - under age 65 and over age 65. The solution for vitamin D is to measure blood concentration. Shouldn't vaccine dosage be adjusted for body size as well? Or better still, adjusted for immune response?
Don't forget -- #3: Insufficient healthy staff. Adult employees get ill from the flu too, needing to take sick days. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there is also a minimum attendance requirement for the day to be counted towards the required number of school days, in order to avoid make-up days. For example, at the time and place I was in public school, winter snow day cancellations were rare, despite the rural bus transportation being cancelled many days for several of those years. The number of students within town, not using the buses, was large enough to surpass the quorum requirement. These mass flu outbreaks could drop the student attendance below such minimums.
I would probably go with a Skinner box design. Of course there is a risk of training a bunch of germaphobes. Bob Wilson
I hope so too, but remember... With your 'youthful' body, you'd still be behind me in the line though!
I survived this year's flu (after immunization) it was not enjoyable. However I'd take it several more times rather than doing the Norovirus dance.
Was on an athletic cruise ship that was aflicted 4 days into a 14 day cruise. The sink on the port side LH was yuck!
Noro is a sturdy bug. Bleach (hypochlorite) is effective but requires more contact time than other bugs do. New idea - tada! Bleach in sanitizing wipes. Totally unpatentable. Possibly unmarketable because even if it says "no eyes or mucus membranes" you know that somebody will do it and sue.
I brought Norovirus into this and it seems interesting to compare these to Influenza viruses. The latter affect about 4 million people globally and kill about 300 thousand per year. There are vaccines but high mutation rates means vaccines are always running behind. The former affect about 685 million people globally and kill about 200 thousand per year. No approved vaccines yet, and also high mutation rates. So Norovirus could arguably be seen as more important for vaccine development. I don't know if it a more difficult target, or if other factors are at play here.
I have a 42 year old son who has had the flu shot probably 25 times before. This year he got it and has not been able to use the arm into which the injection was administered for 3 months. MRI, steroids, and multiple doctors visits. No telling when he will get well or even if and he is worried about losing his job over repeated absences for doctor visits. Pain relievers just short of narcotics do nothing. In researching, there are 81 documented side effects and come can be life long. 3 other family members no problems.
mikefocke, that sounds very bad. I can only suggest detailed back tracing of the exact vaccine lot number administered. Influenza vaccine is an industry and not without error. All that calls towards broad consideration. Your family (without disrespect) is a narrower consideration. Yet something ought to happen there as well.. PriusChat is not the place to fix this, but some help may come from here. Please start a new thread. Here you are down in the noise and that is not beneficial.
I recommend reading Dr. Tom Levy's website (IV Vitamin C Protocols and Procedures | Dr. Thomas Levy, MD, JD, Vitamin C Specialist) about vitamin C. Or do a google search for him to see various interviews and videos. As for treatment, I would take lipsomal vitamin C in tablespoon (3 gm) doses every 2-3 hours as an experiment. It may control the pain, and eventually actually support healing. Warning that the liposomal delivery costs about $1 a gram with no guarantees. Several days should be an adequate trial for any pain control aspect.
