Category: medicine

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Here’s Why You Need to Get a Flu Shot This Year (And Every Other Year)

It’s estimated that 80,000 deaths occurred in the US during the 2017-2018 flu season. What’s frustrating for medical professionals is the fact that these deaths are largely preventable with the flu vaccine. Many people are reluctant to get vaccinated, though; people are concerned about getting the flu after being vaccinated, maybe, or they feel they’re young and healthy enough not to need it.

Those concerns may be unfounded, though. Here are some common questions about getting the flu shot, and their answers:

When should I get vaccinated?

The CDC recommends getting vaccinated by the end of October, but even if it’s after that, you can still benefit from the flu shot. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, which is why people sometimes think the vaccine has given them the flu – they just weren’t vaccinated early enough and caught a virus in that intermediate 2-week period.

Isn’t this flu season supposed to be mild?

Unfortunately, by the time experts know whether a flu season will be mild or not, it’s already well underway. It’s better to be prepared for every flu season by getting the flu shot.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Is it really effective?

To be clear, the flu shot isn’t perfect. Each year different flu strains make their way through the public, and while the flu vaccine contains multiple common strains of the flu, sometimes scientists miscalculate.

For instance, the 2017-2018 vaccine was 40 percent effective, and, though this may not sound impressive, it means that your risk of needing to seek medical care due to the flu is reduced by 40 percent. That’s a 40 percent lower chance of being hospitalized…or worse. It’s not perfect, but it’s effective.

But it’s the flu. What’s the big deal?

The flu can kill healthy adults, so it is a big deal. The elderly, children, people with underlying health conditions, and people with suppressed immune systems are even more vulnerable. Getting the flu shot protects you, as well as the people around you. For adults with young kids, that can be the most important consideration.

Where can I get the flu shot?

The flu vaccine is available at your doctor’s office as well as many pharmacies and local health departments. The CDC has also set up a handy website to help you find a location close to you. The cost for the flu vaccine is typically pretty modest ($25 or less), and it may even be free if you have insurance coverage. If you don’t have health insurance, many state health departments can connect you with free or low-cost flu shots.

So protect yourselves and your loved ones – get vaccinated today!

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12+ Cases That Still Make Doctors’ Skin Crawl

There’s a reason why those of us with weak stomachs don’t become doctors. They see more blood, gore, and bile in one week than most of us do in a lifetime. But everyone has their limits – even doctors – and sometimes things poke through the patina of professional ability.

If you decide to read through these 15 doctors’ confessions about what still gives them the heebie-jeebies after years of practicing medicine, I hope your stomach is strong.

#15. Absolutely ghastly

“Doctor. Nothing visual/physical really gets to me these days. Smells can be absolutely ghastly. But people’s suffering can be profoundly affecting, both patient’s and families.”

#14. Chilling to the bone

“How cruel people can be. Dealing with disease is one thing, but dealing with victims of any kind of assault, domestic violence or mass tragedy is chilling to the bone.”

#13. I’m taking a bath in bleach

“Patient has Mrsa : skip the gown because we all have it, it’s fine what Evs

Patient has scabies / bed bugs: JeSus fucking Christ where the fuck is my 3rd PPE gown tie, I need 6 gloves and 4 Shoe covers and if they even so much as touch me I’m taking a bath in bleach , I left my phone in the break room because if it fell outa my pocket it will stay there till the end of time .”

#12. There’s something about that open nose

“I work at a maxillofacial surgeons’ department and I’ve seen a lot of procedures which don’t phase me; teeth extractions, upper and lower jaw realignment, traumas of all types (broken jaws, broken orbital sockets, …) oncological procedures, explorations. The lot.

But there’s 1 procedure that makes my gut wrench; rhinoplasties. There’s something about that open nose, and people cutting and prodding around that makes me so uncomfortable. I don’t know why.”

#11. I have to suppress a shudder

“Anesthesiologist here. Blood, gore, and people trying to die on me don’t really phase me much. But when I’m in the eye room and the surgeon sticks a needle into someone’s eyeball I have to suppress a shudder.”

#10. Parasites

“I can handle skin sloughing diseases, gore, and meth head tweeters just fine… But damn, I hate parasites….. bed bugs, scabies, tapeworms (fun fact- you can end up with tapeworm eggs in your brain if you have tapeworms and your hygiene is rank enough).”

#9. Full body skin conditions

“I’m a trauma surgeon so blood and mangled bodies doesn’t really phase me, but full body skin conditions do! Things like eczema herpeticum and Norwegian scabies make me itch all over and really uncomfortable.”

#8. Chopped fingers still get me

“I’ve seen all sorts of disgusting and gory things which uniphase me but for some reason chopped or dismembered fingers still get me.”

#7. The common thing we all hate…

“For me it’s nasty teeth. There are very few things that move me in any way (medicine or otherwise) but daaaamn nasty teeth. I could never ever be a dentist.

My friend works in emergency medicine and can’t stand hand wounds. She’s the toughest, most bad-ass lady I know but hand wounds make her swoon like a medieval maiden.

Among other doctors I know it’s usually skin conditions and burns.

The common thing we all hate is abuse.”

#6. Living where they shouldn’t be

“All the creepy crawlies living where they shouldn’t be. The more slithery the worse it is.

A kid is awoken by intense pain and a scratching sound in the ear? Usually a cockroach – not so bad, but a hassle to remove piecemeal leg by leg if it comes to that.

Some guy is complaining of nasal congestion and some bleeding months after a vacation? Yup, leeches in the nasal cavity. I’m never going swimming in any rivers ever.

Diabetic patient complaining of a non-healing wound behind his ear? I scoop out dozens of maggots from underneath the skin flaps and they’re falling on the patient’s stretcher.

A pregnant patient admitted for delivery is complaining of itching down there after maybe straining a bit too much? An Ascaris roundworm is poking its head out the butt and saying hello.

Always makes me gag when I have to be the one to remove them.”

#5. Botflies are a common theme

“Large Parasites that live in the skin.

I can deal with worms in the organs, or microscopic spiders living in my face pores, but when it comes to scabies or botflies I want to claw my own skin off.”

#4. A big NOPE

“Very little does… I can see blood, guts, death, and very little phases me. But watching any video of somebody breaking a bone gets a big NOPE out of me.”

#3. Suctioning out saliva

“I don’t mind pus, blood, poop, urine. But, for the love of god, I can’t stand saliva. It grosses me out when anesthesia suctions out saliva.”

#2. Phantom itching for hours

“I can’t even see or hear the phrase “Fournier’s Gangrene” without cringing. (Don’t Google image search that at work unless you also work at a hospital.)

Also I reallllly don’t like going into patients’ rooms when they have bedbugs. Even if I gown and glove before heading in and only touch them to do an exam, I will have phantom itching for hours and then change clothes in my garage when I get home because NOPE.”

#1. Unclean nose issues

“My wife has been a family practitioner for 10 years. She says the only thing that really still grosses her out is nasty, unclean nose issues.”

Brb barfing.

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Doctors Can’t Believe That More Than Half of Parents Still Think You Can Get the Flu from the Flu Shot

Flu season is already underway. That’s right, while you are enjoying the fruits (and pumpkin spice lattes) of autumn right now, the sad truth is the flu bug is out and about. For many people, that means getting themselves and their children vaccinated in order to avoid a painful (and exhausting) illness, a recent survey revealed many parents are actually avoiding the flu shot for a head-scratching reason…

They think the flu shot causes the flu.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

“I’m flabbergasted,” says Dr. William Schaffner, who studies infectious disease at Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine. “I and many others have been saying for over 20 years that you can’t get the flu from the flu vaccine. I don’t know how to say it any louder. You cannot get the flu from the flu vaccine. That’s a myth.”

Jean Moorjani, a board-certified pediatrician at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, brings some additional facts to the debate:

The parts of the virus that are used are completely dead, so you cannot get the flu from the flu shot. After receiving the shot, it takes your body about two weeks to build up antibodies to fight the flu, so if you come in contact with the virus during that time, you may still get sick, which is why you should get your flu shot as early as possible.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Many, many other doctors have added their enthusiastic support for the vaccine in recent days.

According to the CDC, 172 kids lost their lives to the flu in 2017 — the highest death toll in almost a decade — and over 80% of the children who perished did not have a current flu shot.

Doctors and other health professionals aren’t trying to scare parents, but they do want them to know that by not giving them the flu vaccine because of unfounded fears, you could be putting their lives in danger.

“There’s no reason to be nervous about getting your children vaccinated against the flu,” reiterates Amesh A. Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “You should be nervous about not getting your children vaccinated.”

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Australia’s ‘Man with the Golden Arm’ Donated Blood Consistenly for 60 Years

Every two weeks for the last 60 years, James Harrison has donated blood in his native Australia. But he recently rolled up his sleeve for the last time, as the country’s Red Cross Blood Service only allows people to donate blood until they turn 81-years-old.

Over the course of his long blood giving career, it’s estimated that Harrison helped save the lives of over 2 million babies born to Australian women.

Harrison needed major chest surgery when he was only 14-years-old and relied on the blood of strangers to help get him through the operation. He vowed he would donate his own blood as long as he was able to, and he’s been true to his word for six decades now.

Harrison’s blood contains an antibody that is used to make Anti-D, a medication given to mothers with a negative blood type. The drug prevents medical afflictions in newborn babies that can sometimes lead to death. Prior to the discovery of Anti-D in the 1960s, thousands of babies died from a disease called haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).

Photo Credit: Facebook,History Nerd

Harrison said, “It’s a sad day for me. The end of a long run. I’d keep on going if they’d let me.” Harrison was widely praised for his selflessness and in 1999 received the Medal of the Order of Australia. Let’s hope many follow this great man’s example.

h/t: Mashable

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