Tag: flu

Thirty Six, Four, and One

Image courtesy of Pexels

This morning we came back from a long holiday weekend. The weekend’s lab results were waiting for me. These included:

  • Thirty Six cases of influenza, mostly Flu A
  • Four cases of RSV
  • One case of COVID.

Several facts struck me about this haul. One is of course that these all have vaccines available to prevent them — your insurance might even cover them at no charge to you. I must of course make the caveat that these vaccines are not available to everyone. There are restrictions based largely on age. Some of them work better than others, but all of them are “better than nothing.”

Another interesting fact is that although COVID is still with us, RSV and Flu were far bigger problems. Before you start saying “oh come on, it’s just the flu!” I’d like to point out that every year thousands of people die of influenza. RSV is also a potential killer, mostly in children on one end and older adults on the other.

Not so fun fact, we’re just barely getting to the middle of “flu season,” so you can expect even more of this lovely stuff wherever in the Northern Hemisphere you may be.

But the thing I found saddest is the number of children who passed through our Emergency Department and Freestanding ED (FED in hospital-talk). The saddest part is that most of them got sick after Christmas. It’s very likely some selfish relative who just had to see the kids/cousins/niblings/grandkids left an unintended extra gift this year: getting sick enough go to an Emergency Department for a respiratory illness panel. And that makes me unhappy.

My job is literally preventing infections. Please, do your part. Stay home if you’re sick rather than “power through it.” In particular, show love for the kids by not going to visit them when you’re sick. Wear a mask when appropriate. Keep your hands clean — literally the number one thing you can do to prevent all illness. And it’s still not too late to get vaccinated against preventable illnesses.

Flu Season Officially Begins

Okay, I know the virus has actually been out there a while. And yes, I am monitoring the bird flu situation in a professional capacity.

While the vaccine currently out there is not perfect, it is better than the alternative to getting vaccinated: nothing. I urge you — both personally and professionally — keep your hands clean, get vaccinated, and stay home if you are sick. Remember that year we did a lot of things to keep from getting COVID? The flu rate sure was low that year!

Stay safe out there!

Omicron Thoughts

And so we drag over the two year mark with COVID. More variants, more sickness, more cases. And things will “likely get worse” according to experts. I have seem greater numbers in my facility, and “surprise” cases (we test on admit, thankfully). Objectively, we have more cases now than when we tried to lock down! Notice I said tried, because obviously it didn’t work out as planned.

Nevertheless, the CDC has changed guidelines to make it easier for people to get back to work. Or if you’re more cynical, to make it easier for companies to force people to get back to work. Nurses — both union and not — came out against. Other unions, including flight attendants, came out against. Will that change anything? Not known.

For the record, my company has a policy saying don’t come to work of you have a fever, productive cough, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized rash, conjunctivitis, or have been instructed to quarantine. People who are sick should stay home, period. Don’t try to soldier through, because you’ll both do a halfway job and potentially make other sick. I encourage everyone to follow this sane advice even outside a pandemic.

There is good news, however. The influenza rate is sharply down over the pre-panda era. In my area, we’ve had less than two dozen hospitalizations and (so far, knock on wood) no deaths. In fact, one line of influenza may be extinct!

Keep your hands clean and your masks on, folks. The mask goes over the nose, by the way.

In honor of flu season…

Ok, so by now everyone knows that this year’s flu vaccine isn’t quite as effective as would be desirable. By the way, that’s because the flu virus changes (read: evolves!) quickly. There’s still a few things you can do to reduce your chance of getting the flu. One of the biggest things is almost free and you won’t even need a doctor: wash your hands regularly.

Hand washing — a controversial yet effective technique since 1846. I wish I didn’t have to point out that it’s a good habit.

In Closing: a few items about terror, the internet, and security; point, partially refuted.