FLU

[Dr. Goodword]

• flu •

Pronunciation: flu • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: A highly contagious viral infection causing inflammation of the respiratory tract, fever, muscular pain, and a rotten mood.

Notes: You will find slang words in English that have been shortened or "clipped". Usually the first syllable is retained: doc for doctor, rep for representative. Rarely, the last syllable will be retained, as van for caravan and bus for omnibus. Retaining a middle syllable, as fridge for refrigerator is rarer yet, but today's Good Word is a member in good standing of that elite group: it is a double clipping of influenza. So, for an adjective, you have to go back to influenzal.

In Play: We thought our North American readers might be interested in the origin and nature of this Good Word as they enter the flu season: "'Have you had your flu shot yet, have you had your flu shot yet?' That is all I ever hear these days!" Vaccination can help against certain strains of flu but remember, flu is a family of different virus strains whose number increases year by year.

Word History: If you think influenza is remindful of English influence, you have etymological potential. Influenza is the Italian word meaning "influence". From about 1505, Europeans believed that epidemics resulted from the influence of the stars, since the same disease affected so many people over such a wide area. Hence an epidemic came to be known as an "influence". The word itself comes from Latin influentia "influx, inflow", made up of in "in" + fluere "to flow". The root of this word goes back to an ancient bhleu "swell, well up" and came to English as blow. (Today's Good Word is the result of the beneficial influence of Chris Stewart, our chief South African word-spotter. We are happy to make his finds epidemic.)

[gailr]

So, for an adjective, you have to go back to influenzal.

I still prefer flu-lish.

[Perry]

I prefer healthy!

[Bailey]

People have fewer colds and flu in Summer months, more sunshine= less sickness you can supplement that lost Vit D with D-3, it will keep you from getting sick this winter, so much safer than vaccines with Mercury in them. Also, did you know that they select a "likely flu" and vaccinate for only that one, but you will not be protected if another makes its rounds, And if that's not enough, many get really sick FROM the shot [this is where the Epstein-Barr syndrome came from]. You do whatever tickles your fancy, I'll take my Vit D-3

mB

[Stargzer]

Actually it's a mixture of three different strains based on a study of what was seen in the past year and what is likely to show up in the coming year. Being over 55 I get a flu shot every year. I've only had it twice that I can remember, and that's sixteen times too many. Once was in high school and once as a young adult. My father had it once that I can remember.

Thiomersal, also called Thimerosal, is the controversial mercury-containing preservative used in vaccines. It was also called Merthiolate, which I remember using on cuts many years ago.

Wikipedia:

Use
Thiomersal's main use is as an antiseptic and antifungal agent. In multi-dose injectable drug delivery systems, it prevents serious adverse effects such as the Staphylococcus infection that in one 1928 incident killed 12 of 21 children inoculated with a diphtheria vaccine that lacked a preservative.[1] It is not needed in more-expensive single-dose injectables. ... Outside North America and Europe, many vaccines contain thiomersal; the World Health Organization has concluded that there is no evidence of toxicity from thimerosal in vaccines and no reason on grounds of safety to change to more-expensive single-dose administration.[4]

If you want to read something really scary, read about the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. It sickend 500 million people worldwide and killed an estimated 40 to 100 mllion.

The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish flu) was a category 5 influenza pandemic that started in the United States, appeared in West Africa and France and then spread to nearly every part of the globe. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients.

The Spanish flu pandemic lasted from March, 1918, to June, 1920,[1] spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. While older estimates put the number of killed at 40–50 million people, current estimates are that 50 million to 100 million people worldwide died, possibly more than that taken by the Black Death. This extraordinary toll resulted from the extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine storms. Between 2 and 20% of those infected by Spanish flu died, as opposed to the normal flu epidemic mortality rate of 0.1%. In some remote Inuit villages, mortality rates of nearly 100% were recorded. Unusually, the epidemic mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemic influenza deaths occurring in people under 65, and more than half in young adults 20 to 40 years old.

[sluggo]

I too avoid the flu shot like the plague.

[gailr]

My dad worked in the Health Department; he made sure we had flu shots during expected high outbreaks. As an adult, I've generally opted to skip the shot, and I've paid the gak! flu-lish price a couple times.

Like anything else, people need to educate themselves (reading as much reliable pro and con info as possible) to make their own decisions, and then be reasonably responsible them.

-gailr

[gailr]

The 1918 flu pandemic (commonly referred to as the Spanish flu) was a category 5 influenza pandemic that started in the United States, appeared in West Africa and France and then spread to nearly every part of the globe. It was caused by an unusually severe and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1. Many of its victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or otherwise weakened patients.

The Spanish flu pandemic lasted from March, 1918, to June, 1920,[1] spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands. While older estimates put the number of killed at 40–50 million people, current estimates are that 50 million to 100 million people worldwide died, possibly more than that taken by the Black Death. This extraordinary toll resulted from the extremely high infection rate of up to 50% and the extreme severity of the symptoms, suspected to be caused by cytokine storms. Between 2 and 20% of those infected by Spanish flu died, as opposed to the normal flu epidemic mortality rate of 0.1%. In some remote Inuit villages, mortality rates of nearly 100% were recorded. Unusually, the epidemic mostly killed young adults, with 99% of pandemic influenza deaths occurring in people under 65, and more than half in young adults 20 to 40 years old.

That's the kind of thing I remember, and gnash my teeth in frustration over, whenever I read about school boards piously mandating religion instead of science in their science classes. I cannot imagine being treated by a doctor (or pharma researcher) who proudly refused to learn how organisms mutate and evolve.

Looming over those communities is an unnecessary form of social Darwinism: survival of the healthcare fittest, I guess.

[sluggo]

I've not been fluless (would that opposite be fluent?) but just prefer to stay unmedicamated. Especially from questionable sources

A flea and a fly in a flue
were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly "let us flee!"; said the flea "let us fly!"
So the fled, through a flaw in the flue