How's the Flu Hitting You?

How's it in your neck of the woods? Anyone ever been hit with the flu
(or
similar) while airborne?

And this has what to do with rec.aviation.piloting??

I ask if anyone has ever been incapacitated by flu (or similar) while
airborne, and you don't see a connection to a newsgroup about piloting?

HELLO? [*tap* *tap* *tap*] -- Is this thing on...?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Read it as: "Anyone been hit with this flu that's been going around?"

*DOH!*

Sorry Jay..

My subject line could have been more on-target, for sure... ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
y.com...
I'm with Jay on this. There have been numerous news reports that have
stated the flu shots being given do not prevent the A/Fujian strain
which
is
the one causing the problems.

You are "with Jay" in claiming that all of the news reports are false?
Funny. There haven't been any well-researched news reports saying that
the
vaccine does not prevent the dominant strain for this season.

Jim's comments are exactly right, at least according to all of the news
reports. The current vaccine includes three strains of flu, none of which
turned out to be the dominant one this season. However, they are similar
enough that health officials expect *some* protective effect from the
vaccine. No, it won't be 80-90%. But they are expecting as much as 50%
protection, even among those infected with the A/Fujian strain, due to the
similarities.

The vaccine does not need to include the *exact* strain for there to be a
protective effect in some percentage of individuals. For that matter,
having the exact strain does not guarantee a protective effect. It's just
that the percentage is higher when the vaccine is the same strain.

It's the same story every year. The shots
only work on the virus strains that were around last flu season and
don't
work on any new strains that have mutated and spread this year.

The same story? Yeah, right. The flu vaccine is just a big scam. You
caught 'em with their pants down. Maybe you should get to the Wall Street
Journal or New York Times with this breaking news.

Seriously though, you don't appear to be getting it. The shots work to
varying degrees depending on the individual and depending on how closely
the
virus strain in question matches the strains found in the vaccine. It's
not
a binary either/or thing. For many people, this year's flu shot will
prevent them from being infected with this year's dominant flu strain (as
well as any number of others).

Sorry, I forgot...what does this have to do with flying?

Pete


So you are saying they don't know how effective this years vaccine will be
against the new strains if it will be effective at all. You use a lot of
wishy washy words like if, some, suspect, varying degrees and depending to
describe what you think is an effective vaccine. Sounds pretty much the
same as what I have been hearing, it isn't the right stuff and it isn't
working very well plus their might not be enough of it.

It all seems pretty binary to me. Either the vaccine prevents the flu for a
high percentage of people or not. From what I have heard and based the
number of people getting sick it looks mostly like a _not_ situation. On
top of all that, if the shortage plays out it makes the effectiveness that
much less. All in all not poster material for the medical or pharmaceutical
industries. Then again we aren't yet in a 1918 situation although I have
not heard that such a situation could be prevented with current practices.

OBTW...I'm going flying the 17th at 10:35 eastern if the weather is good and
I don't catch the flu.

Speaking of the "flu", I wonder if SARs will reappear this year?

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:31:36 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:

Sorry, I forgot...what does this have to do with flying?

I don't know about you, but my new FBO doesn't permit rental of
aircraft if the PIC is sick. Presumably, that means the flu as well.

Although, why one would feel like flying with the flu is a bit beyond
me. When I get the flu I generally just want to curl up and die.

Rob, flu-free for nine years, now *knock on wood*

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
y.com...
It all seems pretty binary to me. Either the vaccine prevents the flu for
a
high percentage of people or not.

lol...

I'm the one using wishy-washy words, while you write something like "Either
the vaccine prevents the flu FOR A HIGH PERCENTAGE [emphasis mine] of people
or not"? Yeah, right.

In any case, no one originally said anything about the vaccine working on a
"high percentage of people". That's your own straw man, and you should feel
free to knock it down if you like.

Jay's post said "you're pretty much [on your] own with this particular
strain", and that's simply not true. The vaccine IS helpful for some
percentage of people. That percentage is likely to be lower than compared
to previous years, but to say that the vaccine is useless is just plain
wrong. That's what Jay said, and since you're "with Jay", that's what you
said too. You're both wrong.

From what I have heard and based the
number of people getting sick it looks mostly like a _not_ situation.

First you say it's a binary question to you, then you say "it looks mostly
like a _not_ situation"?

Get your story straight. Is it a binary or isn't it? It's a simple yes or
no question. To help you out, here's a hint: when it's a binary question,
the situation won't be "mostly not". Either it IS or it ISN'T. There's no
"mostly on" or "mostly off" when you're talking about a binary question.

The rest of your rant about the medical industries fault in the current
situation is just absurd. I won't even bother to comment on it.

Pete

Jay's post said "you're pretty much [on your] own with this particular
strain", and that's simply not true. The vaccine IS helpful for some
percentage of people.

The basic misunderstanding driving this particular argumentative string seems
to be the idea that there's one flu germ, or shot.

It's a prevalent bug, and a particularly evil one -- it evolves all the time.
Like many of the most "successful" viruses, influenza can ride around in people
who are only kind of sick, and jump from that reservoir to lots of other new
victims, unlike ebola which kills you fast and burns its own bridges,
infectively speaking.

(incidentally, it's also a zoonosis -- a germ that can infect both people and
several kinds of animals, and often being able to jump that species barrier
helps it spread and evolve even more)

New variants appear all the time, and there's a recognized pattern to its
winter spread across the globe, so health organizations each year try to scout
out the most likely ones and make up a new vaccine that includes them all. You
can't put dozens of different strains into one shot, so you try for the few
that are most likely to be the major culprits. This year, for reasons already
explained, they included several in the new vaccine but missed one variety, and
that's turned out to be a big bad one.

Just as a doc might give you a shot of antibiotic to prevent secondary
infections like pneumonia if your immune system's pretty wiped out, (you DO
know that antibiotics don't work against a virus) the vaccine could protect
even those who get flu from getting other varieties...wouldn't it bite to get
bit all over again?

And the more people who develop their own immunity to the latest strain of flu,
the most likely the darn thing is to go out and evolve:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-rme032503.php

"Strains of flu virus differ from one another largely in the genes that code
for surface molecules called glycoproteins, which are the primary targets of
the body's immune system in defending against flu viruses.... Evolutionary
changes in immune response against such "antigen" molecules are the reason that
new vaccines must be developed against emerging strains of virus."

Me, I'm livin' dangerously -- no shot, just Vitamin C, warm clothes, and
occasional applications of medicinal barley water.

("StellaStar" wrote)
snip
Me, I'm livin' dangerously -- no shot, just Vitamin C, warm clothes, and
occasional applications of medicinal barley water.


People getting their flu shots in mid December is like - I don't know
what????

One word folks: October.

We've been getting something shot into our arms for about 3 years now. So
far, so good. We even pay for the darn thing, out-of-pocket, when we're at
the grocery store - Cub Foods.

My don't get sick tip:
I generally drink almost 2 gallons of water per day, especially in the
winter (1 gal per day is my minimum).

Empty 32 oz PowerAde bottles are *great* for helping me keep track of my
water intake. 4 refills = one gallon. (Plus, they don't tip over easily)

Kidneys seem to be a pretty good Doc.

--
Montblack
http://lumma.de/mt/archives/bart.gif

"Rob Perkins" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:31:36 GMT, "Dave Stadt"
wrote:

Sorry, I forgot...what does this have to do with flying?

I don't know about you, but my new FBO doesn't permit rental of
aircraft if the PIC is sick. Presumably, that means the flu as well.

Although, why one would feel like flying with the flu is a bit beyond
me. When I get the flu I generally just want to curl up and die.

Your new FBO seems like a responsible organisation to me. Mind you the pilot
should ground himself if he is sick under the term of his medical. To do
otherwise is irresponsible. But then.................

Dave

"Rob Perkins" wrote in message
...
I don't know about you, but my new FBO doesn't permit rental of
aircraft if the PIC is sick.

How sick? Are you allowed to fly if you have a slight cold?