The ‘flu attacks!
by Jay Stevens
The ‘flu is going around Missoula. Even the Missoulian noticed:
Missoula County had a slow start to the flu season, but it’s picking up now. The Missoula City-County Health Department is also seeing an increase in the number of reported flu cases and a slew of gastroenteritis viruses, otherwise known as the stomach flu.
Tell me about it. The ‘flu had camped out in this house for four or so days, culminating in a sick wife and two sick kids over the weekend.
That’s right, I escaped. Of course, not completely. I still got to enjoy the ‘flu by administering medicines, performing late-night bed calls, standing in for a barf bag, and doing the other innumerable dirty little chores associated with nursing the sick, all the time wondering when it was going to strike me down.
It hasn’t…yet. I missed it, whether by hardier constitution or sheer stubbornness. Certainly not because I avoided contact with the bug. I was a prime candidate: little sleep, irregular and less-than-nutritious eating, and constant contact with my family’s bodily fluids.
The irony is that I’m the only one in the family who didn’t get a ‘flu shot. Ha ha!
The Missoulian:
There are more than a dozen strains of influenza, she said. The flu shot is designed for the coming year and protects people from what medical professionals identify in advance as being the worst and most predominant strains. A person may get sick with a strain not identified as one of the three worst strains for that year.
The second reason is that a person may have already been exposed to the flu at the time they received their shot, she said.
Who knew?
I should really keep my trap shut. Hubris never spared anyone from getting the ‘flu.
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February 11, 2008 at 7:25 am
I’m knockin’ on wood for you as I read this, Jay.
Good luck. And don’t be taking any walks down this way either!
February 11, 2008 at 9:12 am
I’ve been sick off and on for over a month. Right now, my head is so full of mucus I can hardly hear.
Just thought I’d share.
February 11, 2008 at 9:41 am
So far, so good!
Mmm, Rebecca, lovely image…
February 11, 2008 at 9:58 am
Some of your “fans” around here may suggest it is something other than mucus, Rebecca. . . .
;)
February 11, 2008 at 10:57 am
:-P
February 11, 2008 at 9:49 pm
The flu shot protects you from a upper respiratory disease, called influenza. Not the diarrhea and vomiting illness called stomach flu. So there is no irony here. If you get the true “flu” you will feel like you’ve been hit by a truck, have a fever over 104 dgrees, suffer from exhaustion and be susceptible to every other virus and bacteria around becuase your immune system will be so compromised. Then will you be laughing Ha, Ha!