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.

Did they have any other health conditions making them much more susceptible to the very worst aspects of the flu? Being overweight is a huge factor, by the way. We do have an obesity epidemic, hence loads of people are taking weightloss jabs.

I missed my vaccine appointment because I was ill. I'm glad I heard about this flu on the radio yesterday because it has made me book another. Isn't it a good thing to encourage vaccination?

You actually thought it was ok to write this.

People baffle me, they really do.

Only one of my three children have really
been in school this week all had the flu jab and two have barely left their beds this week. Flu or terrible cold it’s the worst thing that’s ever hit them and me and dh have come down with a milder version of whatever they have.

I don’t think media coverage is going to change much though since everyone feels they over reacted in Covid.

No but locking people away, restricting exercise and essentially allowing them to succumb to an unhealthy lifestyle for two years, and then the complete abandonment of office work and getting outside, has ruined immune systems.

Not overweight. On no medication. Flu, led to sepsis, coma, amputation, severe disability and death.

Because it's what happened. Go report me if you feel that strongly.

I have the flu right now, just to let you know.

Ignore it then, very easy these days when you can really control which media you use. Personally I think the message needs to be out there as this is more serious than in previous winters. You recovered, that is good, there are going to be people (and that includes children) who may not be so lucky as this strain seems to be especially virulent. I am so relieved I have had my jab but I am keeping an eye on the news and also thinking about people who are unwell and our hard working NHS staff. But then I guess I am not selfish like the OP

Did they? How many Covid patients did you nurse, and how many of them died? How many night shifts did you work in a row because there were no other staff members available since they all had Covid, then had to stop covering shifts because you also had Covid? How many of your colleagues never came back to work because they had either died of Covid, or remained so unwell that they could never work again, or quit the profession entirely because they were so burnt out? How many boxes of visors made by schoolchildren did you receive because there was no suitable PPE available from the government? Did you have to show your friend’s dying grandmother (a patient on your ward) a photo of a random baby that you had to pretend was your friend’s newborn because she wasn’t going to live long enough for the real baby to have been born?

How much worse do you think it could have been?

Most Adults don't have it, presumably because if costs £20 unless you qualify for a free one.

Plenty of fluids, rest, take it easy and step away from the media. You'll be okay.

Same. It's like the bloody Covid hysteria all over again.

I’ve just had it and it’s absolutely brutal, I’m 3 weeks in and still not feeling back to normal.

A relative is a paramedic and their whole trust has just said they’ve got to wear masks at all times from today but it doesn’t immediately affect them as they’re currently off sick, with flu.

Yanbu. It’s the same every year. This over exposure is why people stop listening.

People with flu or other viruses should rest until they've recovered.

The three fit healthy young adults I knew who died after flu-like illnesses (over a thirty year period, not all at once) had all decided to continue their usual running routines. Massive bacterial surge in the bloodstream, damage to heart muscles, collapse.

So don't do that. Go to bed, stay there for a few days.

There was a comorbidity there. How does flu lead to blood poisoning?

“No but” ???…..you aren’t an immunologist and your conclusion aren’t remotely reasonable

It causes sepsis …I thought you were an expert on immunity? That there were no deaths ?

Do you know what sepsis is? If you don’t, read up on it because you could save a life one day.

Throw in a 10 month old with that as well… DEATH 😂

That is incorrect sadly. Google.

I had a flu jab today.
The man doing them said that the news is being unnecessarily scare inducing and it’s not any better or worse than usual.
Hard to know who to believe.

Wes Streeting had something to say about this back in 2023, though of course he was in opposition then: Wes Streeting says NHS uses winter crisis as excuse to ask for more money | NHS | The Guardian

I have to say I’m with you OP and I’m not usually like this.

I was getting worried about it until the news said the “crisis” is c2000 patients in hospital with flu. Last year it was 800.

from the dramatic coverage I was expecting at least 200,000 😱