Resistance to flu drug widespread in US: study

[icarus]

And this would be why I don't get a flu shot:

Resistance to flu drug widespread in US: study

Viruses are highly adaptive. We've overused antibiotics. Many antibiotics are now ineffective. Now three flu drugs are ineffective: rimantadine and amantadine and Tamiflu. It's obvious to me that we've overused flu vaccines. Those should be for small children, the sick, and the elderly. Not pushed by companies that don't want to pay for sick days.

In other news: looking at a mountain of work for school.

Starting. That's the hard part. Starting.


ETA: Folks keep thinking that I'm mixing up vaccines with the drugs used to treat influenza. No. I'm not.

Doctors will still say get the flu vaccine, the same way they used to prescribe antibiotics like candy.

I was leery back in the 80s when everyone was prescribed an antibiotic for everything.

I evaded the antibiotics then. I'm not a bit surprised to find they were overused to the point of uselessness. People argued with me then, too.

Now I'm not buying it on the flu vaccines.

This is just one person's anecdotal observation, but I've noticed the flu season has been getting worse and worse. That spike began in the mid-to-late 90s when flu vaccines started being used to inoculate everyone who'd take it, and not just the vulnerable. (Actually, the spike started when flu vaccine makers began marketing to businesses that they'd have less loss of productivity if they got their employees to take it.)

Mark my words. In three to five years we'll start seeing studies that show an increase in the severity and number of flu viruses. In ten, we'll see a link between overuse of flu vaccines and the sheer variety and severity of flus.

Flu vaccines just aren't the same as your typical mumps, rubella, etc. vaccine. Viruses mutate. That constant mutation is why the flu vaccine has to be different each year, and why it only includes an immunization for the top seven or eight viruses the CDC guesses will be the "bad ones" for the season.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

No way, really?

The US sucks. There's a lot of money sloshing around, and we just got a great president. But overall, the US sucks.

[enname.livejournal.com]

Yes really - it used to be under 25, but they've extended it now. I got mine even though technically I was a day too old, but the doctor felt it was close enough to ignore. Even if there is no history of cervical cancer in the family, I am not turning down a chance to limit my risk and also limit the number of HPV viruses I might catch.

It isn't perfect here, not by far, but this one was very good. Ideally they'd have it free to men and women of all ages. Men still have to pay, and if you are older and at risk you still need to pay. Oh well.

[blacknblue2.livejournal.com]

There's also a way to get it for $6 in the US if you're between 14 and 26 (or so, I don't remember exactly.) I think it's only if you don't have insurance, though. But you only have to fill out a form for Merck, and they'll pay the rest...or something. I don't actually know how it works on that end. Anyway, it's very, very helpful.