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Tag Archives: flu
A Pretty Good Reason to Think Flu Shots are Good for You
Your health insurance company likes them. If a health insurance executive compares the data of two populations–say, 100,000 people who have had flu shots and 100,000 people who haven’t–she finds something significant: the rates of illness and mortality in the … Continue reading
Flu, Guns, and Civilization
One of the great signs of the advance of human civilization in the world is vaccination. Another is that the state has a monopoly over the use of violence. By these two measures, however, it seems that the United States … Continue reading
Have You Gotten Your Flu Shot?
Everyone in my family has gotten vaccinated, including my six and nine-year old daughters. How about you? This is at the CDC website today: Significant increases in flu activity in the U.S. in the last three weeks indicate that an early flu … Continue reading
H5N1: The Airborne Experiment Cannot Be Kept Secret
More bad news on the H5N1 airborne experiment front (from the Los Angeles Times yesterday): [Dutch virologist Ron] Fouchier [whose lab created airborne H5N1] said he was cooperating [with the US government], but he thought the [experiment sharing] strategy was impractical. When he … Continue reading
I Saw Contagion and Got My Flu Shot
But not in that order. I actually got my flu shot on Monday and saw Contagion on Tuesday. My wife and kids also got their flu shots this week. As to the movie, it’s a must-see that is well informed … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged contagion, death, disease, fitness, flu, flu shot, health, life, plague, vaccination
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Why Not Getting a Flu Shot is Like Giving Your Keys to a Robber or Predator
This high quality National Public Radio (NPR) produced video on how viruses pick the lock on cells, then hijack them, ought to send every parent to the doctor for their kids’ shot updates. And, if you don’t get your own … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged anti-vaccine movement, biology, critical thinking, death, flu, flu shot, flu shots, life, molecular biology, parenting, vaccinations, viruses
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Alternative Medicine Does Not Exist; Critical Thinking Does
Andrew Sullivan recently got a letter from an epidemiology doctoral student offering some rules-of-thumb for thinking about medical claims and treatments. The advice is so sensible, and so nicely representative of good critical thinking, that I post them here: 1. Ancient wisdom is the … Continue reading
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Tagged alternative medicine, fitness, flu, flu shots, health, medicine, pneumonia, yoga
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H1N1: Yet Another Good Reason to Get Your Flu Shot
At around 6 pm this evening, I listened to a radio host at KFI, the largest radio station in Los Angeles, do a segment on swine flu. The host has a four year old daughter, and he noted that medical researchers … Continue reading
Yet Another Good Reason to Get Your Swine Flu Shot
It works really, really well. This today in Spiegel: The researchers who develop vaccines hope, of course, that their products will work. This time around, however, even the developers themselves were surprised to see just how effective their products have … Continue reading
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Tagged fitness, flu, flu shots, H1N1, health, swine flu, wellness
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A Compelling Statistic and Two Leading Experts in Virology Who Say: Get. Your. Flu. Shot.
If you’re a lay person, I don’t know how much more clearly the case for getting your seasonal flu, swine flu, and pneumonia shots can be made than this: a compelling statistical correlation and quotes from two leading experts. Here’s … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged America, fitness, flu, flu season, H1N1, health, life, medicine, viruses
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H1N1 (Swine Flu): Listen to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), Not Rush Limbaugh
Here’s the CDC’s recommendation regarding swine flu vaccination, as reported in the Washington Post: The first swine flu precaution that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests for parents: As soon as a vaccine is available, try to get … Continue reading
Good News
This according to Bloomberg: Demand for seasonal-flu vaccinations has soared because of public awareness of the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, Cohn said. Walgreen administered twice as many doses in September as in the entire 2008 flu season, he … Continue reading
Swine Flu (H1N1): Children, Atheism, Transcendence, and Near Death Experiences
I’ve noticed, since having kids (they are three and five), that I’ve been unusually anxious about flu seasons (something that, when I was single and kidless, I barely thought about). And this season, with swine flu (H1N1) out there without … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, atheism, atheist, death, fitness, flu, H1N1, health, life, near-death experiences, Reinhold Niebuhr, swine flu
5 Comments
My Kids, My Wife, and I Have All Gotten Our Flu Shot
Have you? It’s also a good idea to ask your doctor about getting the pneumonia vaccine as well. It lasts for ten years, and it can reduce flu mortality by about 50% (since a lot of flu deaths are associated … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged fitness, flu, flu season, flu shots, H1N1, health, swine flu
2 Comments
To Reduce Your Risk of Death from Swine Flu This Fall, Should You Get a Pneumonia Vaccine?
The Los Angeles Times today reports that a widely available pneumonia vaccine might substantially reduce your risk from dying of the swine flu virus (H1N1) this fall. My family is planning to request the vaccine from our physician. Money quote from … Continue reading
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Tagged cold and flu season, dieting, exercise, flu, flu season, H1N1, health, Los Angeles, pandemic, swine flu
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H1N1: The Flu is Coming
Better get ready for it now. This today in the NY Times: The Obama administration warned Americans on Thursday to be ready for an aggressive return of the swine flu virus in the fall, announcing plans to begin vaccinations in … Continue reading
Swine Flu Global Pandemic Quote of the Day: BBC Medical Correspondent, Fergus Walsh
BBC Medical Correspondent, Fergus Walsh, at his blog today: There is concern that the virus might mutate in the southern hemisphere over its winter and become more virulent, but there’s no sign of that yet. A pandemic vaccine is in … Continue reading
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Tagged caution, death, exercise, flu, H1N1, hand washing, health, life, swine flu
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Are You Preparing Now for Swine Flu in the Fall?
No time for complacency. According to the Daily News, if the H1N1 (“swine flu”) strain that struck Mexico especially hard earlier this year comes roaring back seriously in the Fall, America could be in for a lot of suffering: A … Continue reading
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Tagged diet, epidemic, exercise, flu, H1N1, hand washing, health, pandemic, swine flu
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