“The Problem Child of Seasonal Flu”: Beware This Winter’s Virus

Post by CoffeeDregs » Mon, Jan 22, 2018, 11:54 PM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #81

post_break wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have there been studies that show the masks are effective? I'm just curious is all not trying to knock you down.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/face-masks-flu/ > McDevitt and his colleagues screened 89 volunteers, 37 of whom tested positive for the flu and were asked to provide exhaled breath samples with and without a surgical mask. Among the volunteers, 43% exhaled large influenza-containing particles while not wearing a mask, compared to 11% while wearing a mask; 92% exhaled small influenza-containing particles w…

Post by post_break » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 12:08 AM UTC

CoffeeDregs wrote: post #91

ravenstine wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/face-masks-flu/ > McDevitt and his colleagues screened 89 volunteers, 37 of whom tested positive for the flu and were asked to provide exhaled breath samples with and without a surgical mask. Among the volunteers, 43% exhaled large influenza-containing particles while not wearing a mask, compared to 11% while wearing a mask; 92% exhaled small influenza-containing particles w…

I've heard (and seen) that in JP, people wear masks to protect other people from sickness. That said, I don't think I've seen an example of a debilitatingly sick person wearing a mask; only their caregivers wear masks. A seriously sick person has no ability to receive the training and certification to wear an N95 mask. Besides infected people are contagious before they're symptomatic so no one would know to suggest t…

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 12:26 AM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #73

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The catch to this is there is substantial reason to believe that non-exposure can actually make you more subsceptible later on Don't flu shots work by giving you a mini-flu?

Only the nasal spray flu vaccines contain live virus. The CDC is recommending against the nasal spray this season, so chances are you'll get a shot, which contains only dead virus, which can't cause anything you'd describe as "mini flu" as a result. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2017-2018.ht...

Post by nonbel » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 2:06 AM UTC

apendleton wrote: post #40

nonbel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Even though the vaccine isn't that effective this year, as long as its at least somewhat effective in mitigating transmission, it's worth it" How can you tell if something is "worth it" without considering any costs (side effects, price, time, etc)?

You should consider costs. This tradeoff is a large part of what the field of epidemiology studies. Turns out vaccines don't need to be that effective to be worthwhile, because of the way disease spreads. There's this concept of a "reproduction number" (r-naught) that predicts how many people a given infected person will pass the disease to, based on a combination of the virulence of a disease, how long infected peop…

Post by yumraj » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #84

yumraj wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an hypothesis, which conceptually makes sense though not sure how proven it is, about why flu season is Jan/Feb - March/April. Basically during Fall as the amount of sunlight drops our bodies vitamin D, for which there is clinical evidence that it helps with immunity, drops leaving us more susceptible to infections leading to the overall flu season starting in Jan/Feb time frame. As the sunlight picks up, vit…

Do you have more info about that hypothesis? I always thought that the usual explanation was simply that people are inside buildings and cars (and thus around other people) more often when it is colder outside.