flu

Flu Season Madlib

 in Blog  tagged advice / doctor / flu / madlib / prescription / sick by

Flu Season Madlib

I found a website that had several medicine-related madlibs on it.  I find madlibs great fun!  I’ll share them every so often in the Pharmacist Answers Podcast Community.

Here is a few of the outcomes from the group.  Things people say during flu season:

Laura says:

“I’ve had, like, six weeks of wheezing. I’ve been to the Kauffman Stadium and got a prescription for filet mignon. And then I kept having dry abs, and I went to Mosque and got another prescription for Pringles. That was 12 hours ago, and I’m not any better. I think I need some mascara because my friends took it and got better. And I’m just so tired of feeling bored. Can you give me something to make me teleport? Every year my regular doctor gives me brandy, and I always get better immediately.”

Ronei says:

“I’ve had, like, six weeks of bronchitis. I’ve been to the Bridgestone Arena and got a prescription for crab cakes with tartar sauce. And then I kept having dry glutes, and I went to Temple and got another prescription for french fries. That was a month ago, and I’m not any better. I think I need some keratin conditioner because my friends took it and got better. And I’m just so tired of feeling fearful. Can you give me something to make me invisible? Every year my regular doctor gives me wine, and I always get better immediately.”

The sad part is that this is a very accurate example of what people will say to me at the pharmacy counter!

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The Flu or an Imposter? [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged adenovirus / cold / corona virus / flu / symptoms / vaccine by

5 other viruses that cause “flu” symptoms

  1. Rhinovirus (cold) – most colds don’t come with a high fever, but the other symptoms are present.
  2. Coronavirus (SARS) – includes gastritis, nausea, and vomiting on top of the other symptoms
  3. RSV – usually prominent in kids and leads to hospitalization due to the respiratory inflammation that can lead to an emergency
  4. Adenovirus – first isolated in the adenoids; responsible for viral tonsillitis
  5. Parainfluenza virus – in the 50’s, they would swab the mouth or throat to determine what was making a person sick.  There was a group of kids sick with the “flu” symptoms.  The doctors swabbed all these kids and noticed that some showed a virus that wasn’t the influenza virus they were used to seeing, so it’s name essentially means “around influenza”.

These viruses have nothing in their makeup similar to influenza, therefore, the flu shot will not protect you against these.

Are flu shots really worthwhile?

The short answer, yes.  It not only keeps the shot-getter protected (and even a little protection is better than none at all), it keeps healthy people from being carriers of the virus from spreading it to weaker members of the population (little kids, elderly, immunocompromised).  And while the flu isn’t the primary reason people end up hospitalized or dying, the secondary complications (i.e. pneumonia) are what can kill people.  Getting the flu shot is a simple and quick process, and is also relatively painless.

And there is absolutely NOTHING in the flu shot that can give you the flu.  Your body can have an immune response because that’s the point of the shot, to activate your immune system so it’ll learn what to do if the real flu shows up.  But obviously there are 5 other viruses you can catch that will give you symptoms identical to the flu.

Do more people get sick now than a few years back?

More people on the planet means more people probably get sick.  But if we have a preventable disease and people choose not to prevent it (in themselves or their kids), then more people will start getting it (aka measles).  We had almost eradicated measles from the US until a larger group of people decided not to get their kids vaccinated, and now it has resurged.  Children worldwide die from measles, why would we want to put our own kids at that risk?

Despite the poorly matched vaccine in recent years, those that got the flu reported shorter duration and milder symptoms.

And obviously, the flu shot is not the only thing that is going to protect you from the flu this winter.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/