It's Flu Season, Get Vaccinated

In the past couple of weeks I have had a couple of interesting exchanges regarding both the H1N1 and the seasonal flu, and the idea of being vaccinated against each.

During one exchange a friend said to me: "I'm always afraid of getting sick from the vaccine, because I had a family member who got really sick from it once." During another exchange, a family member said to me: "I don't believe in them (vaccines)."

It is illogical, unwarranted, paranoid, delusional, or sometimes just plain misinformed thought processes such as these that help contribute to the spread of flu each year.

These irrational fears could also make the current H1N1 'Swine Flu' situation worse than it needs to be. It's flu season, vaccines are safe and effective, and you need to get yourself and your family members vaccinated.

Let's begin by talking about exactly what the 'flu' is and is not. It is a contagious respiratory illness caused by any number of influenza viruses which spread from person-to-person and can cause symptoms ranging from mild to deadly. Here in America, the flu usually breaks out in the fall and lasts into the following spring.

Anyone can get the flu, but kids are particularly vulnerable because their immune systems are not fully developed. Kids also tend to have poorer hygienic habits than adults, and they also can remain contagious for twice or three times as long as adults. This means that they are highly vulnerable to the spread of influenza at schools, day cares, and even just among kids within that same family at home.

Others at increased risk of contracting the flu include senior citizens, infants and toddlers, and anyone with a chronic medical condition such as diabetes, asthma, or any heart or lung disease.

Pandemics Are Nothing to Sneeze At

For some people it's probably a big joke. 'Swine Flu', it just has a funny name, right? For others it's probably a case of wondering what all the fuss is about, since we are talking about a few dozen cases in the United States, and all of those are down around the border with Mexico, which has the real problem.

So what's the big deal? Why all the headline stories in the newspaper and on television? And what's with all those empty stadiums this past weekend for all the big soccer matches down there south of the border?

Well glad that you asked, because the topic of handling a pandemic, at least from a law enforcement perspective, is being addressed this year in one of the Philly police MPOETC courses that I am teaching.

The course, titled 'Crisis & Emergency Management', is a scenario-based course in which the police officers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are presented with four unusual situations. Officers are asked to place themselves in the scenario, and are guided as to how they should be expected to respond. They are also given information on some of the resources that would be coming to help in the situation from the government and other entities.

One of the scenarios, in fact the final one that they are being presented, is a pandemic flu outbreak. How timely, huh? I can't tell you how many times that I have gotten that look in class. You know the one, the "You gotta be kidding me, this will never happen" look.

Well as today's headlines are beginning to relate, pandemic outbreaks are not only things that happened in the distant past or the subjects of science fiction, but they are very real threats to our society and our world, and we need to be prepared and informed.