[lit-ideas] Re: flu vaccine
- From: Paul Stone <pas@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 20:55:53 -0400
>In years when the flu virus strain isn't especially nasty, 5% to 20% of the
>population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu
>complications; and approximately 36,000 people die from flu. [CDC] So, wanting
>to get a flu shot isn't all that self-indulgent, especially for people
>like Bill
>Balll and me, who are over 35.
I never said that it IS self-indulgent for people who _need_ to get the
vaccine to get it. I tried to set out in my last email that the 'problem'
with this year is not just that there is a severe shortage of flu shots,
it's that the inoculations were progressing as normal (i.e. millions of
people getting them -- and desiring them -- who DON'T need them) and so
this exacerbated an already bad situation with the people who really need
them. Once again though, people are playing the blame game -- who's
responsible -- instead of trying to solve the immediate problem -- how to
get MORE shots.
The thing is that most people who aren't affected by something are not
concerned about something; but MOST people think that they need flu shots,
so the hue and cry is greater than it should be because people who don't
really need the shots are whining about it. They are not being altruistic,
whining about how their grandmothers and kids can't get it, they are
whining because THEY can't get it. That is what the press is playing on.
That is what the politicians who are blaming it on the government are
playing on. That's my only point. I don't want people to die of the flu. I
don't want people to die from complications from the flu. But I'm
absolutely tired of the lowest common denominator being the governing
situation. People invoke "THE CHILDREN" when 136 children died of the FLU.
That's bullshit pandering. I'm not denying that 36,000 people will die. But
the odds are what they are. I have nothing against people doing what they
can to ensure they don't get the flu, but the onus is on people doing
simple things to avoid it too. Not just walking around with flak jacket
vaccinations.
It's like air bags, car safety, seatbelts etc. How about learning how to
fucking drive so that you don't smash into anything? How about more
difficult driving tests? How about making sure that people who are not
extremely competent drivers DON'T DRIVE? People love to quote the
statistics about how x% of people killed in car accidents are killed by
drunk drivers etc. But that's just playing on tangible evidence. What about
the 100-x % of people? They were killed by inattentive, bad, sleeping,
sick, old, dead drivers. Why not the movements to stop those
assholes? No... that's way too novel a cure for people's constant
expectations that they will be safe without taking steps to help
themselves. Gotta have protection always. [rolls eyes]
>Why not just gamble that you won't be one of the 5-20%? After all, these
>aren't
>bad odds. One reason is that a mild case of flu in a person who has a robust
>immune system is still a case of flu, and the virus can be passed on to
>someone
>really at risk, and that person will usually be likely to contract
>'flu-caused'
>pneumonia than most. A serious case of pneumonia is no fun, unless you like
>prolonged sensations of choking to death.
So don't go out. Why should the majority of people cater to the minority?
That's certainly NOT a democracy. And. might I add, that if the MAJORITY of
people ARE susceptible to the flu -- to the extent that will die from
complications -- then we have a much bigger fucking problem than how to
supply the vaccines.
>To imply that complaints about a shortage of flu vaccine are little more than
>yuppie whinings is I think based on several misconceptions.
I don't think I did that. I was NOT that simplistic and I think to imply
that is based on at least one misconception.
against all better judgment,
paul
******************
Paul Stone
pas@xxxxxxxx
Leamington, ON
******************
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