AAAAH-CHOOOOOOOO!!!!

Forget dying, get flu shot to avoid being sick

By Kelvin Wade
October 28, 2009 5:36PM

I had the flu not too long ago. It started with a sore throat but soon progressed to a hard cough that hurt my chest every time one burst from my mouth. Next up were chills like mini arctic blasts down my spine that no blanket could alleviate. Aches and pains gripped my neck and joints.

Then came that feeling like I'd been run over (and backed over) by a bus. Every step I took required superhuman

strength and seemed like I was walking in molasses.

Food into my stomach quickly reversed itself. And what scraps stayed down, moved through my system much too quickly. A sudden brutal cough coupled with loose bowels makes for a miserable experience.

Was it H1N1 or seasonal flu? I don't know. I didn't much care at that point. That virus knocked me out of commission for nearly 10 days.

According to a recent Associated Press-GFK poll, 38 percent of parents don't want to have their kids vaccinated against H1N1. The first reason parents give is they're afraid of possible side effects from a new vaccine.

But H1N1 vaccine is manufactured like seasonal flu vaccine. There are ongoing clinical trials in both pregnant women and children. Side effects are rigorously monitored. Adjuvants, immunological agents that were thought to cause complications in the 1976 swine flu vaccine, have been removed. Check out the CDC.gov Web site if you don't believe it's safe. The Obama kids got both the seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines.

This is 2009. It's OK to believe in science again.

The second concern is that people aren't afraid of H1N1. For a long time we've been told to fear SARS, Avian Flu, West Nile Virus and on and on. Each bug has been portrayed like airborne Armageddon. When H1N1 broke out earlier this year, the media covered it in typical end-of-the-world fashion.

While people bought respiratory masks and schools shut down, we began noticing that swine flu was floating like a butterfly and stinging like a flea. Where was the mass death?

So, many parents think there's not a real threat. And let's be honest, the overwhelming majority of people who contract H1N1 or seasonal flu, are not going to die. You'll just be sick.

But why is the focus only on death? Did you read my description of the flu? Who wants to be sick?

Is there anyone out there who craves feeling horrible? Do you have sick days at work that you'd love to burn? How much joy do you get out of cleaning up after vomiting?

And will you be one of those people who stagger to work sick like an influenza zombie spreading the disease among co-workers? Instead of your boss having one person out sick, he or she has five.

Will you let your kids go to school and slime their friends, letting this strain flourish? Will you go shopping, to church or the movies and give others the gift that keeps on giving?

No one is required to get flu shots but don't let ignorance be the reason that you don't. And if you're not going to be vaccinated, at least stay home, and take precautions so you don't infect the rest of us. Peace.