Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Vaccines and Dairy

First, dairy. I had 500ml of milk tonight. No reaction. Well, I had very little pain in my stomach, but it was slight and barely noticeable. Not enough to declare it a problem. I believe last nights attack was brought on by a very empty stomach and very solid food, too quickly. This relieves me. I like my milk :) I didn't crave it like I thought I would, though.

Vaccines. My Canadian counterparts.. please be wary. If you're deciding to get the H1N1 vaccine, know that trials are still in the infant stage and literally going on this week. The country is confident to kick out the actual vaccine even while trials are going underway because they'll be receiving back information "rather quickly". They may be getting short-term reactions quickly, but long-term reactions will take years. We don't know what will happen. This is a new strain so we don't know what's effective, how much, or in what doses. I'm personally against vaccinating for moral and academical reasons, but to each his own. Not everyone holds this belief and please get the vaccine if you feel you'll be protected.

That's all today.

5 comments:

Tilly said...

"I'm personally against vaccinating for moral and academical reasons..."

You mean like, all vaccinations? Is academical a word? Why do they call it the Swine flu? You think you guys will be mandated to get the vaccine like hospital staff in Quebec?

Anonymous said...

Acedemical isn't a word. I looked it up.

I am curious about the moral reasons. Is it because the vaccine contains shark liver oil or is it a religious thing?

And there isn't enough time for a long term study for flu vaccines, not this one. To be honest, this one (h1n1) scares me since it seems to kill just about anyone it wants not just those with poor immune systems. It's made in the same way as all other flu shots have been made for years. I suppose you could consult the studies and research of flu shots in general to get the information you seek.

XBurner said...

Ahem...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/academical

Didn't look too hard, did you?

Tilly said...

Huh, what do you know, it is a word. Neat.

I'm always interested when people say things like, "it seems to kill just about anyone it wants" as if a virus is out there planning and scheming and choosing victims like a serial killer or something. Oh anthropomorphism, you are so amusing.

Whenever swine flu starts to worry me I find it helpful to remind myself that more people have died this year in this country from just the regular flu than the number of people who have died from swine flu worldwide. (I think that's still true. I haven't looked at the numbers this month though, so please do correct me if I'm wrong.) Then I find I feel a little better about the whole thing.

Perovskia said...

Yes, as we've established, academical is a word. I wouldn't have used it if it wasn't. Perhaps not used in the proper context, but I was trying to get a certain thought/point across.

Yes, I'm against all vaccinations.

No, I won't disclose why here.

Ugh.. I hope we aren't made to get the vaccine at work. I think it broaches personal boundaries, choice and y'know, free will. I don't live in a communist society. I understand there is needed protection, but there are other avenues.

Dubbed the Swine Flu because some strains are endemic in pigs (but also birds) and this one was due to a swine origin (see Wiki).

No, there isn't enough time for long-term studies for this one (unfortunately) because everyone's freaking out and this whole kerfuffle just started. Media emphasizes everything and creates paranoia and fear. Hysteria solves nothing and people need to calm down and do their research.

An interesting tidbit about this strain of flu... there was an outbreak (several, actually, but anyways) in the 40's. That's why they're saying this is targeting younger folk; everyone older is already immune, we're not. It's not going to turn into the Spanish Flu.. we're too progressed medically for that, but we do need to be responsible (washing/sanitizing hands, not touching face, etc, etc). People die more of the common flu (18% - 800 a week in the U.S) than of H1N1 (5%) (also Wiki). What will be interesting is to see this strain mix with the common flu and mutate and become a new one. But we'll worry about that later :)

Copyright Text