Fed up of hearing about the flu

[SpoonBaloon]

I know I’m being unreasonable but am I the only one who’s getting wound up by the constant coverage of the flu on every national news outlet?

It is December. Of course the flu is going around! Every winter we hear about the NHS being overwhelmed.

I can accept minor coverage but it’s been the main story for days on end and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop! And I know the flu kills and people need to be aware to take precautions but surely people don’t need it to be pointed out to them that they have an increased chance of catching the cold or flu in the run up to Christmas?

I was deathly ill with it last year but luckily have managed to avoid it up to now.

Isn’t it obvious? More people, more transmission? Why do you think the worst faring areas during Covid were densely populated?

Oh well, just been trying to book a private flu jab for the past couple of hours, but nothing to be had. Me and dh will just have to take our chances 🤷‍♀️

I am in Wales I recall the death rate in one Welsh Town was incredibly high. One block of flats three generations of a family in separate accommodation died. There was a similar result in a block of flats in Tower Hamlets. DS at University said it was the same in the halls in Leeds.

Look at intensive farming of birds chicken, turkey. They can infect each other in hours.

We get a lot of day trippers from the cities who bring their unvaccinated dogs. A vet friend says there's a surge of diseases every summer because of this. She advises walking your pets in areas the tourists don't frequent

I wasn't sure if that is what you meant or whether you were talking about strain on NHS etc.

The flu and other viruses will always do a good job of transmitting themselves, regardless of whether we are "over-populated". Look at 1918.

In a random distribution you may get, for an unknown - or sometimes known, reason, a cluster.
It could be that that Welsh town was unlucky.
It could be that they had an older population or a population that had a mindset of "carry on" and tended to leave it too late. A proportion of the town related and had a genetic susceptibility. A mutation which caused worse symptoms. A low vaccine uptake. Local medics giving bad, or now outdated advice etc. Lots of potential reasons why there might be a cluster.
In our area I know of 4 nursing homes. Two got hit very badly at the start of covid. One got hit in the second wave. The other managed to escape almost unscathed. They all had similar restrictions, similar residents etc. No obvious reason.

But if you are looking at the population and the number of people who caught covid, you will get clusters.
A good statistician will take account of other factors when looking at clusters, and there may be some just simply because it was random.

Think of holding a hand of nuts. Throw them in the air and let them land. You won't have a neat one per every square. There'll be points with 6 on top of each other, places that one is entirely on their own etc. You might be able to say "there's lots there because that's where my hand was when I through them upwards." "There's not many there because it's further out". But there will also be ones that appear to have no reason why there's a little pile etc.

I remember when norovirus went through the kids' school. 20 classes, and 18 of them had days of being in single figure attendance. One of the other two got down to about 15, the other had hardly an absence. No obvious reason - there were several siblings who had it, they hadn't been kept separate from other classes, no obvious reason.
You can get these odd anomalies, especially in things like medicine which is an inexact science as the human body is an individual.

Thanks for the explanation (I asked all the way back on page one what the point of the vaccination was if it doesn't actually protect against the problematic strain).

I'm by no means an anti vaxxer but I now consider myself skeptical (and very jaded!!) after Covid. I just don't feel the same level of trust.

I wonder if this sort of feeling - on a greater scale - is why flu vaccine uptake has been lower over the past few years? We no longer trust the people telling us to vaccinate and we no longer trust the stats the media pump out?

Why, I'm interested why you hold that level of mistrust and scepticism? I worry about how and why we are developing such cynicism.
@Pigeonsandgiraffees was a very good post and very balanced.
I worry that some people are accessing their information from unreliable sources and sometimes that information in absolutely wrong.

Very interesting thanks, scary how big Walmart and Amazon are, I know Walmart has been around a long time though, wonder who number 8 is, Birmingham council?

Am I right or wrong to say that the vaccine doesn"t stop you spreading it to others?

The vaccine doesn't stop you getting it or spreading it

YABU because it's not just people with flu who are affected. What do you think will happen if you get seriously ill with something else or have an accident? You'll probably spend hours stuck in an ambulance (or waiting for one) then a few days stuck on a chair in A&E being ignored whilst they deal with dozens of other patients before you. It IS a massive problem because it's taking a lot of NHS resources away from other patients/treatments. Hospitals are cancelling non urgent appointments/treatments due to lack of staff (not just staff off with flu doing those appointments, but also staff being re-allocated to other departments). We ALL need to take it seriously, especially taking better personal hygiene precautions.

Every time I’ve been near an A and E department ( last time was end of October ) it’s been an absolute nightmare , so goodness knows what it is like now :(
Fighting fire with fire most of the time it seems.
it’s so sad it’s like this now.

A couple of years after a "pandemic" the hospitals shouldn't be overwhelmed. Also thousands die from flu every year. Levels haven't really changed much. Its scaremongering.

Jeez this site is full of sheep, run along now, get your flu jab everyone, heaven forbid you should miss out on it. Maybe try and open your eyes instead of what's going on.

Ahhh, the old cryptic ‘I’m so enlightened’ which usually comes before the person falls prey to their own stupidity.

I sympathise. I am vulnerable and do is my DH. It’s important to get the message out but the click /fear/rage bait of the internet has changed mainstream news. Everything, including the weather, is now scary.

Oooh what’s going to happen to me now I’ve had my vax? Should I be looking out for a thing in particular?

The mortality rate in sheep is much reduced when they are vaccinated.

It's sheeple! Do better!

My hair instantly went curly and sort of woolly and I felt compelled to get out of a taxi in Hyde Park and munch some grass. You might want to keep any eye out for similar.

Oh that sounds baad.

😂

Actually, I'm just pleased to fit in with the flock.

Actually I don't have one! Bloody Boots either balls'd up with their availability or realised they didn't have enough vaccine to fulfil new orders and they sent us a 'thank you for cancelling your appointment' email, which was somewhat bewildering as we hadn't!

Anyway, I'm chasing up our small local pharmacy - they said they were trying to source some today and I should ring on Monday morning. Fingers crossed...

morrisons said they have plenty of flu vaccines
asked just now

I wish I’d gone to Morrisons ! I paid 22 for my one yesterday.