Vaccimum
Sell your body. Sell your soul. Is that what it’s come to, for a dose of vaccine? Leaving politics to those most inept at governance, the politicians, let us turn our “vaccimum” attention to the scientific side of the crisis at hand. Is there, indeed, a flu vaccine shortage? Is it important? Who is most at risk? What are the ramifications of influenza in an unprotected populace? What can we do about it?
Certainly, the fact that 56 million Americans, not to mention our legions of friends north and south of the borders, are prey to influenza each year. That, in itself, would not be alarming, if “Jewish penicillin” (chicken soup), comfortable pajamas, a soft, warm blanket, and a few days’ bed rest fueled rapid recovery of our physiologic machines. What grinds the cogs to a halt is the realization that influenza is responsible for 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. And that is in no way comparable to tax credits for the rich and privileged, but rather something far more serious: a potential bombshell in the laps of the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the cancer-ridden, those most likely to reap the catastrophic harvest of a flu epidemic.
Up until now, the U.S. had been guaranteed 100,000,000 doses of flu vaccine each year, more than enough to ensure holiday cheer and smooth pursuance of Christmas shopping. Shutdown, however, of a vaccine production plant in Liverpool, England, operated by a U.S. company called Chiron (based in San Francisco), resulted in a 50% shortage of flu vaccine and prospective lumps of coal in fireplace-hung stockings this season, to the chagrin of store merchants and an economy already strapped to its limits.
Without “vaccimum” protection, what can Americans look forward to? Well, a myriad of things come to mind that run the gamut from discomforting but self-limited common colds to life-threatening pneumonias. And that’s not all! Nasal channels, sinuses, eustachian tubes, tonsils, and bronchioles are all affected by the flu, and infection produces mucosal redness and swelling, as well as an overproduction of mucus and symptoms that everyone is familiar with. Also, let us not forget that the influenza viruses mutate to protect themselves from our bodies’ defenses, and that the pandemic of influenza in 1918 killed 20 million people and was caused by a swine influenza virus. That raises the conundrum of animals as “our best friends.”
With current supplies of vaccine limited, certain groups of individuals have been asked to forgo or defer vaccination, and that includes some for whom vaccination was recommended in 2003, such as healthy adults 50 to 64 years of age and household contacts of high-risk persons other than children younger than 6 months of age. On the other hand, the priority groups for vaccination fall into seven categories: all children 6 to 23 months of age, adults 65 years of age or older, persons 2 to 64 years of age with chronic medical conditions, all women who will be pregnant during the influenza season, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, health care workers involved in direct patient care, and out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months of age.
As holiday credit card bills mount and children moan for the latest high-priced, technological toys they see on our big-screen, plasma TVs, which we don’t have to pay for, until 2006, we must ask if there is a “silver lining” to nasal passages ripe for phlegm and obstruction. Of course, there is. We can take “vaccimum” solace in the fact that simple precautions, like washing hands, covering mouths, and staying home from work when sick, can slow transmission of influenza. Furthermore, drugs like Tamiflu can make the flu more bearable, in the face of scalpers peddling doses of vaccine at 10 times the normal price and the cost of this year’s flu epidemic hitting $20 billion in medical payments and lost workdays.
What? You say you want to live forever. Maybe I’ll just stay home, bar the windows, and cozy up to my big flat-screen. That won’t do much for my finances, but it may prevent “vaccimal” sniffles.
Certainly, the fact that 56 million Americans, not to mention our legions of friends north and south of the borders, are prey to influenza each year. That, in itself, would not be alarming, if “Jewish penicillin” (chicken soup), comfortable pajamas, a soft, warm blanket, and a few days’ bed rest fueled rapid recovery of our physiologic machines. What grinds the cogs to a halt is the realization that influenza is responsible for 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. And that is in no way comparable to tax credits for the rich and privileged, but rather something far more serious: a potential bombshell in the laps of the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the cancer-ridden, those most likely to reap the catastrophic harvest of a flu epidemic.
Up until now, the U.S. had been guaranteed 100,000,000 doses of flu vaccine each year, more than enough to ensure holiday cheer and smooth pursuance of Christmas shopping. Shutdown, however, of a vaccine production plant in Liverpool, England, operated by a U.S. company called Chiron (based in San Francisco), resulted in a 50% shortage of flu vaccine and prospective lumps of coal in fireplace-hung stockings this season, to the chagrin of store merchants and an economy already strapped to its limits.
Without “vaccimum” protection, what can Americans look forward to? Well, a myriad of things come to mind that run the gamut from discomforting but self-limited common colds to life-threatening pneumonias. And that’s not all! Nasal channels, sinuses, eustachian tubes, tonsils, and bronchioles are all affected by the flu, and infection produces mucosal redness and swelling, as well as an overproduction of mucus and symptoms that everyone is familiar with. Also, let us not forget that the influenza viruses mutate to protect themselves from our bodies’ defenses, and that the pandemic of influenza in 1918 killed 20 million people and was caused by a swine influenza virus. That raises the conundrum of animals as “our best friends.”
With current supplies of vaccine limited, certain groups of individuals have been asked to forgo or defer vaccination, and that includes some for whom vaccination was recommended in 2003, such as healthy adults 50 to 64 years of age and household contacts of high-risk persons other than children younger than 6 months of age. On the other hand, the priority groups for vaccination fall into seven categories: all children 6 to 23 months of age, adults 65 years of age or older, persons 2 to 64 years of age with chronic medical conditions, all women who will be pregnant during the influenza season, residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, health care workers involved in direct patient care, and out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months of age.
As holiday credit card bills mount and children moan for the latest high-priced, technological toys they see on our big-screen, plasma TVs, which we don’t have to pay for, until 2006, we must ask if there is a “silver lining” to nasal passages ripe for phlegm and obstruction. Of course, there is. We can take “vaccimum” solace in the fact that simple precautions, like washing hands, covering mouths, and staying home from work when sick, can slow transmission of influenza. Furthermore, drugs like Tamiflu can make the flu more bearable, in the face of scalpers peddling doses of vaccine at 10 times the normal price and the cost of this year’s flu epidemic hitting $20 billion in medical payments and lost workdays.
What? You say you want to live forever. Maybe I’ll just stay home, bar the windows, and cozy up to my big flat-screen. That won’t do much for my finances, but it may prevent “vaccimal” sniffles.
Copyright 2004, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
7/09/2006 11:59:00 AM
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