Posted on 12/30/2017 1:38:11 PM PST by familyop
[Follow the link and scroll down for the following text and the map.]
ILINet State Activity Indicator Map: Data collected in ILINet are used to produce a measure of ILI activity* by state. Activity levels are based on the percent of outpatient visits in a state due to ILI and are compared to the average percent of ILI visits that occur during weeks with little or no influenza virus circulation. Activity levels range from minimal, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being below, or only slightly above, the average, to high, which would correspond to ILI activity from outpatient clinics being much higher than average.
During week 51, the following ILI activity levels were experienced:
21 states experienced high activity (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia).
New York City and five states experienced moderate ILI activity (Colorado, Hawaii, New York, North Dakota, and Virginia).
Eight states experienced low ILI activity (Alaska, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wyoming).
14 states experienced minimal ILI activity (Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin).
Data was insufficient to calculate an ILI activity level from the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and two states (Connecticut and North Carolina).
The pharmacist said that news articles claiming 10-30% effectiveness were erroneously referring to the Australian report. She also said that a higher effectiveness is expected here, in the States--about the same as last year.
I hate this season
Is there any mention of the strain that this years vaccine is targeting?
There is a nasty bug here in PA. I got it and was hacking and coughing for two weeks. Not to mention the fever and just general death eating a cracker feeling. One day found me in bed for 16 hrs with no relief. It was a 9 on the suck factor.
No flu shots for me. Got one once and it gave me flu like symptoms for weeks and the left sinus has never been the same. I ate two bowls of my homemade chicken soup today though.
Living out in the boonies and not sending the kids to public school, we never got sick unless we went to walmart. My wife works at an old folks home now so once a year we might get something.
Well.... Type "A" is the one that put me in the hospital for 6 days here in Southern Ohio.. Wow, I really thought I was a goner... Mid 70's, bad lungs, I consider my self lucky... THANK YOU LORD...!!
Typically, it would cover one of the H3N2 and one of the H1N1 variants, along with one or two of the influenza B strains, depending on if it is a trivalent or a quadrivalent vaccine. I do not know specifically which influenza variants are included this year, but I can find out for you if you want.
I used to brief people on which flu vaccine strains were selected each year.
The flu vaccine for any given year is medicine’s best EDUCATED GUESS as to what strain/s will likely be most prevalent for that particular year. Some years it’s an effective guess, others not so much. As a healthcare provider of 35+ years, I myself have never received a flu vaccine. I can count on one hand the number of times I have contracted the ‘flu’ after have interacted with hundreds of thousands of patients over that 35 year span. I have at times recommended said vaccine to those whose compromised health condition could possibly benefit from it but not for an otherwise healthy individual.
Frequently Asked Flu Questions 2017-2018 Influenza Season
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2017-2018.htm
Follow that link and scroll down to “What viruses will the 2017-2018 flu vaccines protect against?”
The following is a quote.
========Quote===============
There are many different flu viruses and they are constantly changing. The composition of U.S. flu vaccines is reviewed annually and updated as needed to match circulating flu viruses. Flu vaccines protect against the three or four viruses (depending on vaccine) that research suggests will be most common. For 2017-2018, three-component vaccines are recommended to contain:
an A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus (updated)
an A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like (B/Victoria lineage) virus
Quadrivalent (four-component) vaccines, which protect against a second lineage of B viruses, are recommended to be produced using the same viruses recommended for the trivalent vaccines, as well as a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (B/Yamagata lineage) virus.
===============Unquote==================
I hope that’s true but unfortunately most of those I have admitted to the hospital did have the vaccine
I get the vaccine every year. I had the Hong Kong flu in college and never want to be that sick again. Now as a health care provided I am mandated to get the vaccine or I cannot work in the hospital, but I would get it anyway
Potheads in the neighborhood are among the conspiracy theorists saying that vaccinations are evil. I suspect that they’re the source of such stories in many places.
...
They are also the source of preventable diseases.
Thank You!
that’s what I was looking for and didn’t see.
Same here-I live in a remote rural area, and was brought up on a ranch in a natural lifestyle family-no prescription or illicit drugs, grass fed meat, organic home garden, etc, all of us who grew up on that family ranch have an extreme, dangerous sensitivity to drugs, etc, so we take natural supplements and stay away from cities in Winter. I’ve tried the supposedly-safe flu shots 3 times, and ended up far sicker than I’ve ever been with any flu, including the Hong Kong A that I had at 19-won’t do that again...
Late last Winter, my lover from college and I got back together-the 1st time I let him talk me into going to his place in the city, he insisted on taking me to dinner at a fancy restaurant there-by the time I got home less than 48 hours later, I was sick as hell-he was too, but not as bad, since he is a cop, and used to the germs in that beehive-I am not-I’ll never let him talk me into another restaurant meal in the city-we cook instead. He is working over New Years, so I’m hanging out here in BFE with friends and co-workers-he can come to my place for awhile after he’s away from everyone for 48 hrs-I might even make him shower using bleach...
Aha-another Hong Kong flu survivor who got it in college...
We’re a tad bit west of Knoxville and Hubby and I began to feel a little punky today. Not sure if it’s flu or just E. TN allergy stuff. Both had the vaccine, but I think they’re just placebos. Went to Walmart yesterday. :(
At least some of the Walmart stores are administering the Fluzone quadrivalent (four component) for just under $40.
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