I was at the my doctor's today for an annual check-up, and on my list of questions was whether or not I should be vaccinated for the swine flu/H1N1 virus.
"Yes," she said, and explained that she's listening to the advice given by the health officials of the province of Quebec, who are trying to achieve what she called (rather unflatteringly but accurately, I'm sure) "herd immunity," by vaccinating a large percentage of the population. There will be free, widespread clinics in Montreal, in shopping centers and other big public locations, over the next month, with the vaccine available first to the populations most at risk. The general public will be able to get shots about one month from now, and I'll probably follow her advice and go myself. Besides, there's something eminently bloggable about getting a flu shot in the Olympic Stadium, n'est-ce pas?
But I did want to pass along this link to the Quebec H1N1 Self-care Guide that arrived in the mail a few days ago. I thought it was particularly well done - full of important information, calmly presented, designed to keep public anxiety at a low level and help alleviate the pressure on the delivery system. (This is the English edition; it's also available in French of course, and you might find it interesting to take a look at the edition adapted for people of the First Nations.) The decision chart on page 15, which describes symptoms and what you should do in each case, seemed especially helpful to me, and applicable to anyone, anywhere.
Meanwhile, wash your hands and don't lose sleep over this.
Thanks for the link, Beth. We got a note from my younger son's school about immunizations there. He's asthmatic, so I plan to take him. I am not sure the rest of us will be eligible here. I'm asthmatic, but it seems that pregnancy is the only sure way of being immunized as an adult female, and that is just not going to happen.
Posted by: Kim | October 27, 2009 at 08:13 PM
I will not be accepting the offer of a swine flu jab, even if it were to be administered in the Albert Hall (though I may change my mind if the venue changes to Windsor Castle)
I consider my poor immune system incapable of coping with any foreign bodies, especially those of porcine parentage, it's having enough trouble fighting my own wayward cells
I do worry about the hygiene habits of the geeks with whom I work though
Whenever one of them sneezes I contract a chest infection
If only I could teach them to use a tissue, to was their hands and to stop playing with their nasal cavities...
Posted by: Mouse | October 28, 2009 at 03:57 AM
our place of work has installed anti-bacterial gel dispensers every ten feet, i think. i may not get the flu. but my poor hands practically have no skin left on them at all, from all the washing washing, washing...
Posted by: laurie | October 29, 2009 at 07:51 AM
Perhaps too late to be widely viewed, but I just ran across this video clip, which deserves a link from here.
Posted by: Spongebelly | November 18, 2009 at 09:38 AM