Tag Archives: swine flu

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

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H1N1 Vaccine: Bankers and Bailout Recipients First

This is the way the world works (in case you just got here). This today at the Huffington Post: Building on a story that BusinessWeek broke, NBC reports that employees at the New York Stock Exchange, bankers at Goldman Sachs … Continue reading

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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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Wired Magazine on the Literally Breathtaking Stupidity of Those Declining Vaccinations

The anti-science anti-vaccination hysteria circulating in the United States is having real and serious consequences to public health. Wired magazine has an interesting article on this latest example of young Earth creationism-like mass stupidity spreading across America here. Money quote: In May, The New England … Continue reading

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For God’s Sake, Get Your Swine Flu Shot

This today from MSNBC: Flu illnesses are as widespread now as they are at the winter peak of normal flu seasons, Thomas Frieden, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters. “To be basically in the peak … Continue reading

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I Got My Swine Flu Shot Today (and Albert Camus Would Have Gotten His Swine Flu Shot Too)

“No man is an island. Each is a part of the main.” This afternoon my wife, my three and five year old daughters, and I all went to the doctor to get our swine flu shots. We got our regular flu … Continue reading

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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

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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

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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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Swine Flu (H1N1): Tip of the Iceberg?

Swine flu (H1N1) is starting to hit young people hard. According to the Washington Post today, 49 children have died in the U.S. so far. If you don’t get flu and pneumonia vaccine shots this year (for you and your … Continue reading

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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

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Read Albert Camus’s “The Plague” Ahead of Swine Flu (H1N1) Season?

Documentary filmmaker, John Pilger, recommends Albert Camus’s The Plague as a good read ahead of our upcoming pandemic swine flu (H1N1) season: A novel which tells the tale of the devastating plague visited on the Algerian town of Oran, it … Continue reading

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Swine Flu (H1N1), Atheists, Agnostics and the Problem of Justification

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I post things on swine flu (H1N1) at this blog. Perhaps you’ve also noticed that I’m an agnostic. But if there is no God, why help others in a time of pandemic? Why not just look out … Continue reading

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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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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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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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Bad H1N1 (Swine Flu) News: Summer Heat May Not Stop It, and It’s Starting to Behave Like the 1918 Flu Pandemic

One billion people worldwide. According to New Scientist, that’s how many people could be infected by H1N1 between now and July. Despite a week of relative calm in the news regarding H1N1 (swine flu), New Scientist reports that there is new evidence suggesting that … Continue reading

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Doorknobs, Elevator Buttons, and H1N1: Politico Notices That Around D.C. Government Buildings are Newly Installed Hand Sanitizing Dispenser Stations

Politico has noticed little hand sanitizing stations popping up around Washington D.C. government buildings. I actually think that this is a great idea. During flu seasons, and when there are viral outbreaks out of the ordinary, as with H1N1, it … Continue reading

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H1N1: Hope for a Hot May

According to a group of physicians answering questions about swine flu virus transmission at Slate.com, heat is an important factor: Cells infected with flu virus are coated in a fatty material that hardens and protects them in low temperatures. (When … Continue reading

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How Dangerous is This New Strain of Swine Flu? Researchers Should Have a Clearer Idea by May 10, 2009

Today is May 1, 2009, and here’s what the AP is saying about H1N1 (the new strain of swine flu): Researchers will get a better idea of how dangerous this virus is over the next week to 10 days, said … Continue reading

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