What Is Going Around Making People Sick?

[Terri9630]

Glad you are feeling better @Terri9630 and hope it continues that way and the pneumonia disappears.

@DrPrepper we always eat lots of yoghurt if we take antibiotics and find that helps is the other probiotics you mentioned stronger or does yoghurt do the job ?.

Thanks. I hope it's gone.

 

[skittles]

surprised no one has mentioned high-dose vitamin c at the first sign of symptoms. That is what I always do when ever I feel something coming on and I very very rarely get sick. High dose meaning taking it until bowel tolerance... once you've taken too much it'll give you diarrhea. If you're well, that'll be around 2000-4000 MG, if you're sick it could be up to 10,000+ MG. I've had the times when I was sick I was taking 3000-5000 MG every 6-8 hours and still not hitting bowel tolerance. Other things include garlic orange honey mix and cayenne pepper.

On another note that gives me another reason to never consider getting a cochlear implant if these *******s think I need a shot b/c I got one. They can go shove it where the sun don't shine. Profits before health in big pharma.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

We take a combination of vitamin c , Echinacea and zinc tablets when we have a cold flu as well or alternatively foods rich in these vitamins.

 

[Resto]

I've spent the last 2 days dealing with the flu epidemic that hit my community really hard over the weekend. During flu season, I'll usually see 5 or 6 cases a day through the emergency department - but this weekend, we've had 46 cases so far! And, a lot of them are going into severe respiratory problems, including pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and even respiratory failure. You would think it is the elderly that get so sick, but it's not. It has been the middle-aged folks (40-70) that are being hit the hardest. I'm glad I have my flu shot- even if it is only 10% effective against the predominant strain, it offers some degree of cross coverage for other strains and it certainly diminishes the impact of strains it is not intended to cover. Seeing the patients in the ICU my age and younger on ventilators for respiratory collapse related to the flu makes me want to have all the protection I can get! We are passing out masks to people in waiting rooms and other areas in the hospital to try to decrease the risk of spread, and making people wash their hands like crazy. I've also restricted all kids under 12 from visiting (except healthy siblings coming in to meet a new brother or sister, and even then, there have been some pretty stringent conditions put in place). Today, I told administration we are officially in an epidemic - which means our emergency preparedness team is waiting in the background to enact our hospital incident command. We're not yet at that point, but if we continue to see so many cases, I will have to enact our pandemic plan.

I hear lots of myths about the flu, and flu shots. The biggest one is that people are afraid they will get the flu from the shot, and that is not possible if you get an inactivated or recombinant flu vaccine. It is remotely possible with an attenuated vaccine, but last year's nasal spray vaccine (which was attenuated) is not recommended for use this year. A lot of people get gastro-intestinal viruses mixed up with the flu. The flu is a respiratory disease (which may involve nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) but there is no such thing as a "stomach flu". Antibiotics DO NOT help the flu, and unless you have specific evidence of a bacterial pneumonia superimposed on your flu (such as a culture or an x-ray study), you should NOT take antibiotics. When that superimposed infection occurs, there is not a specific antibiotic that is always used. Ceftriaxone and azithromycin are usually the big guns that are given for coverage of bacterial pneumonia, but that's like killing a spider on your patio with a flamethrower. Once the physician finds out the causative agent for the pneumonia, then antibiotics can be trimmed down and tailored to the specific pathogen. The only medications that will kill of the flu are antivirals like oseltamivir *Tamiflu). Even then, it needs to be given within 48-72 hours of the start of the infection to be really effective. Other drugs that are given (such as steroids, decongestants, etc.) don't affect the flu virus, but do help the symptoms.

The absolute best things anyone can do to prevent getting the flu are:
1. Get a flu shot!
2. Avoid crowded places. If you can't avoid those places, consider wearing a procedure mask (an N-95 mask is not necessary unless you are providing medical care up close and performing procedures that will aerosolize the virus, meaning cause it to be heavily spread into the air)
3. Wash your hands as often as you can!
4. Consider surfaces in public areas to be contaminated- so wipe down the handle on your grocery cart, and don't handle side rails, elevator buttons, etc unless you sanitize your hands afterwards
5. Stay away from sick people!

Of course, one of my worst case SHTF scenarios is a pandemic of a virus that goes rogue and mutates. As a prep for this consider having on hand the following:

• gloves (nitrile ones are good, and better than vinyl food service quality gloves)
• procedure masks
• N-95 masks
• lots of alcohol hand sanitizer
• isolation gowns or bunny suits (level 2 or greater)
• bleach
• some kind of disinfecting wipes/ sprays. Read the label, though, to be sure the wipes/sprays are effective against viruses!

For the sick patients, I recommending stocking the following:

• ibuprofen to help with fever and body aches
• liquids (tea, broth, juices) for hydration
• lots of kleenex!
• nasal spray (just plain saline spray can be soothing to inflamed noses!)

I hope all of you stay well and don't catch the flu this year!!

YRMC isn't quite "There" yet. For some reason we don't have the number of "Winter Visitors" we usually get, yet. They bring a lot of Sicknesses with them. I give it 3 weeks and Yuma will be in the same condition as Your City.

 

[snappy1]

YRMC isn't quite "There" yet. For some reason we don't have the number of "Winter Visitors" we usually get, yet. They bring a lot of Sicknesses with them. I give it 3 weeks and Yuma will be in the same condition as Your City.[/QUOTE

I used to think Quartzsite, AZ was the center of the universe for sickness when we lived there! Snowbirds show up in October and don't leave until April or so and they come from all over the Country. It seems most think nothing of going out to eat or shop while sick.

 

[Drfacefixer]

I've spent the last 2 days dealing with the flu epidemic that hit my community really hard over the weekend. During flu season, I'll usually see 5 or 6 cases a day through the emergency department - but this weekend, we've had 46 cases so far! And, a lot of them are going into severe respiratory problems, including pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and even respiratory failure. You would think it is the elderly that get so sick, but it's not. It has been the middle-aged folks (40-70) that are being hit the hardest. I'm glad I have my flu shot- even if it is only 10% effective against the predominant strain, it offers some degree of cross coverage for other strains and it certainly diminishes the impact of strains it is not intended to cover. Seeing the patients in the ICU my age and younger on ventilators for respiratory collapse related to the flu makes me want to have all the protection I can get! We are passing out masks to people in waiting rooms and other areas in the hospital to try to decrease the risk of spread, and making people wash their hands like crazy. I've also restricted all kids under 12 from visiting (except healthy siblings coming in to meet a new brother or sister, and even then, there have been some pretty stringent conditions put in place). Today, I told administration we are officially in an epidemic - which means our emergency preparedness team is waiting in the background to enact our hospital incident command. We're not yet at that point, but if we continue to see so many cases, I will have to enact our pandemic plan.

I hear lots of myths about the flu, and flu shots. The biggest one is that people are afraid they will get the flu from the shot, and that is not possible if you get an inactivated or recombinant flu vaccine. It is remotely possible with an attenuated vaccine, but last year's nasal spray vaccine (which was attenuated) is not recommended for use this year. A lot of people get gastro-intestinal viruses mixed up with the flu. The flu is a respiratory disease (which may involve nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea) but there is no such thing as a "stomach flu". Antibiotics DO NOT help the flu, and unless you have specific evidence of a bacterial pneumonia superimposed on your flu (such as a culture or an x-ray study), you should NOT take antibiotics. When that superimposed infection occurs, there is not a specific antibiotic that is always used. Ceftriaxone and azithromycin are usually the big guns that are given for coverage of bacterial pneumonia, but that's like killing a spider on your patio with a flamethrower. Once the physician finds out the causative agent for the pneumonia, then antibiotics can be trimmed down and tailored to the specific pathogen. The only medications that will kill of the flu are antivirals like oseltamivir *Tamiflu). Even then, it needs to be given within 48-72 hours of the start of the infection to be really effective. Other drugs that are given (such as steroids, decongestants, etc.) don't affect the flu virus, but do help the symptoms.

The absolute best things anyone can do to prevent getting the flu are:
1. Get a flu shot!
2. Avoid crowded places. If you can't avoid those places, consider wearing a procedure mask (an N-95 mask is not necessary unless you are providing medical care up close and performing procedures that will aerosolize the virus, meaning cause it to be heavily spread into the air)
3. Wash your hands as often as you can!
4. Consider surfaces in public areas to be contaminated- so wipe down the handle on your grocery cart, and don't handle side rails, elevator buttons, etc unless you sanitize your hands afterwards
5. Stay away from sick people!

Of course, one of my worst case SHTF scenarios is a pandemic of a virus that goes rogue and mutates. As a prep for this consider having on hand the following:

• gloves (nitrile ones are good, and better than vinyl food service quality gloves)
• procedure masks
• N-95 masks
• lots of alcohol hand sanitizer
• isolation gowns or bunny suits (level 2 or greater)
• bleach
• some kind of disinfecting wipes/ sprays. Read the label, though, to be sure the wipes/sprays are effective against viruses!

For the sick patients, I recommending stocking the following:

• ibuprofen to help with fever and body aches
• liquids (tea, broth, juices) for hydration
• lots of kleenex!
• nasal spray (just plain saline spray can be soothing to inflamed noses!)

I hope all of you stay well and don't catch the flu this year!!

This exactly.....there is also a predominant gastroentero virus going around causing all the 24- 48 vomiting, chills, fever illnesses which people are confusing with flu. It’s burning through the schools, but is mostly harmless if the patient can keep up hydration. We do see vomiting in pneumonia mainly when the diaphragm is irritated - something to keep in mind.

 

[Drfacefixer]

Sewingcreations15,
There was an article I saw a few days ago from the CDC that says there is so little egg protein in flu shots now that they are safe even for people with egg allergies. There is also an egg-free vaccine available.

There is an egg free version Flublok . It’s not available for use in pediatrics. But I’ve known quite a few pediatric patients with anaphylactic rxn to eggs get vaccinated with the quadrivalent vaccines available for pediatric use without problems. The CDC even updated their info on the use of egg in vaccines in the recent years.


Special Consideration Regarding Egg Allergy
The recommendations for vaccination of people with egg allergies have not changed since last season (2016-2017).

People with egg allergies can receive any licensed, recommended age-appropriate influenza vaccine and no longer have to be monitored for 30 minutes after receiving the vaccine. People who have severe egg allergies should be vaccinated in a medical setting and be supervised by a health care provider who is able to recognize and manage severe allergic conditions.

 

[Drfacefixer]

surprised no one has mentioned high-dose vitamin c at the first sign of symptoms. That is what I always do when ever I feel something coming on and I very very rarely get sick. High dose meaning taking it until bowel tolerance... once you've taken too much it'll give you diarrhea. If you're well, that'll be around 2000-4000 MG, if you're sick it could be up to 10,000+ MG. I've had the times when I was sick I was taking 3000-5000 MG every 6-8 hours and still not hitting bowel tolerance. Other things include garlic orange honey mix and cayenne pepper.

On another note that gives me another reason to never consider getting a cochlear implant if these *******s think I need a shot b/c I got one. They can go shove it where the sun don't shine. Profits before health in big pharma.

While vitamins are a good thing, they are not binary. We used to think vitamin E was a great “antioxidant” and cancer protective. Turns out, in high doses it’s prooxidant and contributes to free radical formation, hence its a cancer risk factor. High dose vitamin C is well documented to cause an increased risk 2-2.5 x rate of atherosclerosis as well as b12 deficiency, kidney damage and increased risk of diabetes.

Think about this... if my car engine is idling rough, I don’t put jet fuel in it hoping that stress testing the system is going to make it run better. I drive it more cautiously until I can get it checked up.

Giving your gut a run for its money is just putting one more organ system at risk when everything else is already being taxed. High dose vitamin C had its day in the late 70s. We left it there because it failed to be the magic bullet some thought it might turn out to be.

I am a fan of vitamin c, just not more than 1000mg per day. And getting it through diet is far better. A lot of the synthetic shelf bought is fractionated and you trade some of the benefits more profit and shelf life.

 

[fteter]

It's going around here in Utah as well. And friends and family members have come down with it in SoCal as it's spreading there too. Seems to come on, then fade off, then come back with a vengeance. Docs here say it's a flu strain, as others have mentioned earlier in this thread.

I thought I might have been coming down with it last week. Popped an Airborne at the first symptoms and have felt fine since. For those of you who might be thinking Airborne, while it worked for me, be cautious if you're pregnant or worried about osteoporosis as the large amount of Vitamin A may have serious downsides.