Did You Use One Of These Excuses? I Sure Hope Not
(CBS4) - I could imagine what he looked like healthy: a strapping, well-conditioned young guy who said he loved marathons and snowboarding. But lying on the gurney, he was too weak to even pull the sheet over his shivering body. Freezing one minute ... burning up the next. And coughing his lungs out.
Yep, this poor guy had the flu, and it was my unpleasant duty to tell him that there was little we could do to help. Some IV fluids, some anti-viral medication, a lot of sympathy and that was about it.
When I asked him why he didn't get a flu shot at work, he whispered "I never get sick."
He sure was now. A new member of the group of people we are starting to see crawl in the ERs, Urgent Care clinics and doctor's offices with a true case of influenza.
And the weeks after the holiday of Thanksgiving are when the season really kicks off with a bang ... or a whimper.
A new survey of more than 3,000 Americans has some good news:
62% of us have been vaccinated against influenza
But if you do the math, you can see that many have not. And they could pay of heavy price of missed work, missed family life and the experience of being sick as a dog.
That's to say nothing about spreading infection at home or in public.
So why haven't people been immunized?
Here's what the survey said:
48% said they didn't need one -- they never get sick. (Not even a cold.)
Well, to answer this one, see my patient above. One average, about 200,000 are hospitalized with complications of flu.
16% were worried about side effects
While it is true you might get the aches or a sore arm after a vaccine, those are minor compared to being laid out for a week or two because of no vaccine.
14% said the vaccine might give them the flu
That's a no-go. The viruses in the vaccine are dead. In other words, they are non-infectious. They cannot make you sick. It is scientifically impossible.
10% said the flu shot doesn't work.
Well, I guess if you look at last year's vaccine, that might be true in some cases. But that's because the virus mutated -- a phenomenon not expected to happen this year.
And it's also true that even the best vaccine is not a 100% guarantee you'll be free from illness. But some protection is better than zero protection. Your disease will be shorter and milder.
5% said cost is a factor
And that can be a problem if you don't have insurance. Most policies cover a flu shot; most workplaces gave them for free in October -- but now your best bet otherwise is a $15-$30 vaccine at your doc's or clinic.
The real lesson here is that "flu" is not just a cold. It can take the healthiest person and leave them bed-ridden for a solid week or so. And that's if there are no complications such as pneumonia, heart attack or stroke (the most causes of death from flu).
And even though it's the very young and very old who are at highest risk of horrible sickness from the flu, it can knock even the healthiest among us off our feet.
Get that Immunization! It's not too late -- the season lasts into next spring. Lots of time to get sick ... or stay healthy.
Don't roll the dice.
Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida
