Fever broke?

[icarus]

I think the fever's broken, not sure. Either that or I'm having a brief respite, which -- hey -- I'll take it. My throat hurts like you wouldn't believe but even that's an improvement.

I have a theory.

I think these flus are the fault of flu shots.

I never used to get sick, or else which I did, it wasn't very serious. I got a very bad virus back in 1987, then the next one (other than a sniffly week or two) was in the late 90s, once flu shots started to gain popularity. Once my office (from 2000 onward) started pushing flu shots on the entire staff (and you were strongly advised to get one, it was provided for free, in-house -- seems someone examined the stats on on the costs of missed work days) I caught a severe virus every year.

So here's my working theory: flu shots are great for those who get them, terrible for those who don't. By combining the worst flu viruses into one vaccine, people are being exposed to a greater variety of brutal viruses. Most of which they would never face without the shot. Those who have the shot become carriers because viruses aren't the same as polio, measles, etc. Viruses mutate. The whole flu shot theory is founded upon everyone getting the shot.

Now here's where I get cynical. There are only a couple companies allowed to produce flu shots in the U.S. This is a very profitable business, increasingly so with corporations on board with the flu shot theory, sponsoring flu shots for their employees. There may be good intentions involved, but I bet someone at these businesses knows there's a risk of increasing flu epidemics if not everyone gets the shot.

God, I'm so sick of the U.S.

Comments

[winterthunder.livejournal.com]

I would argue that by immunizing a portion of the population each year, we allow for viruses to evolve that are more virulent than would typically be seen on a regular basis. Add that to the fact that the general health of the US population is going down, making people more susceptible to the flu and other illnesses than they ought be, and you have people getting sick more often than normal. If you want to expand the theory you can toss in international travel allowing for quick movement of viruses, inadequate production standards which can lead to the vaccines spreading the very disease they're intended to prevent and the historic influenza cycle which indicates we're due for another pandemic. Scary stuff which I try not to think about too often.

Hope you're feeling better soon, though, theories aside. I don't think I've ever had the flu- I tend to catch strep throat instead. :P