MGordon_MD
User
/ Moderator
Oct 7, 2009, 7:19 AM
Post #1 of 1
(988 views)
Shortcut
|
By Dr. Michael Gordon
Reports first came out of Mexico in April about swine flu, or more accurately H1N1. As the number of cases mounted and the World Health Organization issued releases about the potential for a world-wide flu outbreak, or pandemic, the media reported on it daily and caused a great deal of concern.
However, when it became clear that most people who contracted H1N1 had mild cases, the public became bored with stories about the flu and the risks entailed in this flu outbreak. Excessive media coverage may have done an inadvertent disservice to public health officials who were trying to prepare the public for the upcoming flu season.
As a teenager growing up in Brooklyn, I contracted Asian flu and recall how terribly ill I was. I was in bed for a week with high fevers and excruciating muscle pains. The Asian influenza outbreak of 1957-58 was followed by the Hong Kong outbreak in 1968-69. In both outbreaks, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands, if not more, succumbed to the illness directly or indirectly, due to underlying illnesses worsened by the infection.
One problem with raising the public’s awareness of the potential seriousness of such outbreaks is that we have tended to use the term “flu” for a disease that rightfully should be called influenza. The term “flu” is used almost dismissively for almost any type of viral infections, many of which are minor in nature and have nothing to do with influenza.
Sometimes health-care professionals will describe non-specific illnesses with fever and respiratory symptoms as the “flu,” and since these illnesses are usually not serious, the whole idea of the potentially catastrophic nature of true influenza is lost.
When people are told to get flu shots, even by public health officials, a false sense of security about influenza being relatively innocuous may be perpetuated. People who refuse the vaccine often say, “I never get the flu,” or “Last year, I got the needle and got the flu anyway, so what good did it do?” Then there is always the story about someone they knew or heard of who got a flu shot and got sick or died or was paralyzed, or had some other perceived and often unsubstantiated disaster befall them.
What is the swine flu and what has it to do with the usual “flu,” and what should everyone do about it? The most important point for the public and health-care professionals to understand is that using the term “the flu,” especially when it is preceded by “it’s just,” is misleading. Influenza is a serious and potentially lethal disease. The influenza outbreak of 1918 following World War I killed more people than that terrible war itself.
The development of influenza vaccine during World War II, and its improvements subsequently, have been among the great advances in medicine. We are fortunate in Canada because the vaccine is readily available to the population, and in some provinces such as Ontario, it is available without cost to everyone. Manufacturers are trying to include H1N1 strain in next year’s vaccine repertoire, so that we can decrease its risk on our population.
So remember, it’s not the “flu” – it’s influenza – get the “shot” and encourage everyone in your family to do the same.
---
Dr. Michael Gordon is Medical Program Director, Palliative Care Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System in Toronto, Canada and Professor of Medicine, at the University of Toronto. He is co-author with Bart Mindszenthy of Parenting Your Parents.
Parenting Your Parents is available in bookstores and online at: Indigo-Chapters, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is available in a US edition: Parenting Your Parents: Support Strategies for Meeting the Challenge of Aging in America.
For bulk orders email info@dundurn.com. Call: 416-214-5544 or Fax: 416-214-5556
Dr. Gordon is the author of the engaging memoir Brooklyn Beginnings: A Geriatrician's Odyssey, published by I-Universe.
Brooklyn Beginnings is available in bookstores and online at: Indigo-Chapters, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and I-Universe
Visit Dr. Michael Gordon's website.
|
MAIN
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 