Estimated reading time is 2 minutes.
AS I WRITE THIS, Berni and I have been down with The Great Flu of 2018 for more than two weeks. This is a particularly virulent version of the flu, and while I can’t accurately say that I was knock, knock, knocking on Heaven’s Door, I can honestly say like it felt like I could see that fearsome portal.
I lost more than twenty pounds during the peak illness, unable to keep down any food and most of the water I sipped for days. (My neighbor lost twenty-five pounds during the same period with the same illness.)
This brief piece is here as a warning to those readers who have not had the flu yet!
Beware: the early-onset symptoms to be wary of are constant headache, constant cold (especially if you feel like you need a sweater indoors even when the heat is on), and constant lethargy.
If you’re feeling these things, don’t fight it: stay home, stay warm, stay hydrated.
Needless to say, I was incapacitated during this time, hence my absence from my blogs.
Go to your search engine, type in “flu 2018,” and you’ll find countless articles about the disease and its insidious effects around the world. I am quoting below from the CBS News article “2018 flu season appears to hit deadly peak” by Ashley Welch (and was last updated on January 12, 2018, at 10:58 PM EST).
“This year’s flu season has been dominated by a particularly nasty bug, and health officials say it has now reached almost every corner of the country. In a press conference on Friday morning, the CDC says flu season appears to be peaking.
Flu is now widespread in every state except Hawaii. While experts say the flu season may have reached its peak, they warn it will take many more weeks for flu activity to truly slow down.
This year’s flu season has been dominated by the H3N2 strain, which is linked to more severe illnesses especially among adults over the age of 65 and children younger than 5.
Deaths in states across the country are 4 to 8 times what they were last year at this time from the flu on 2017!
Hospitalizations are also on the rise, particularly among adults over the age of 50 and children under the age of 5. Some hospitals in California have been so overwhelmed that they had to send patients to other ERs.
If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, officials say it is not too late. Other common-sense practices can help you avoid getting sick and prevent the spread of the flu:
• Avoid close contact with sick people.
• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water.”
This year’s flu has been dominated by H3N2, which is linked to more severe illnesses. Click To Tweet
FEATURED IMAGE: The image at the top of this page is a photograph of a flu virus from “The Flu Virus is More Insidious Than Originally Thought” by Melissa Malamut for Boston Magazine (October 24, 2013).
Mystically liberal Virgo enjoys long walks alone in the city at night in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig who strives to live by the maxim, “It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know that just ain’t so.
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a college dropout (twice!). Occupationally, I have been a bartender, jewelry engraver, bouncer, landscape artist, and FEMA crew chief following the Great Flood of ’72 (and that was a job that I should never, ever have left).
I am also the final author of the original O’Sullivan Woodside price guides for record collectors and the original author of the Goldmine price guides for record collectors. As such, I was often referred to as the Price Guide Guru, and—as everyone should know—it behooves one to heed the words of a guru. (Unless, of course, you’re the Beatles.)
I’m glad to hear you’re both better....Just curious but did you have a flu shot? I’ve never been sure if they help, always interested in other people’s experiences with that.
I did not have a flu shot.
a) I know people who get a flu shot every year and never get the flu.
b) I know people who get a flu shot every year and get the flu.
c) I know people who never get a flu shot and never get the flu.
d) I know people who never get a flu shot and get the flu every year.
Apparently, this year’s vaccine was incredibly useless: it was only 10% effective in Australia (getting hit hard) and as “much” as 30% effective in the US. I wish I had copied the article where I read those figures, but I didn’t.
If you haven’t had it yet, be wary of your surroundings and the people in them ...
I should point out that pro-vaxxers will ALWAYS tell you about a) and d) above, but NEVER tell you about b) and c).
What’s the term I want here?
Oh, yeah: confirmation bias.
That’s pretty much in accord with my experience. I used to get them regularly and I still go the flu. Now I don’t get them and I don’t get the flu...but I also started working at home a few years back and don’t get out much so I suspect that’s the bigger key. Anyway, glad to hear you made it through!
I should point out that pro-vaxxers will ALWAYS tell you about a) and d) above, but NEVER tell you about b) and c).
What’s the term I want here?
Oh, yeah: confirmation bias.