Flu Vaccination: The Numbers Don’t Lie

These days vaccinations are either embraced or rejected. Most have received the MMR series of vaccinations (mumps, measles and rubella) as well as the Polio vaccination. In order to attend public schools in the U.S. you are legally mandated to be immunized, though 47 states provide exemptions based on religious or philosophical beliefs. The CDC reported that in 2018 the flu caused over 80,000 deaths in the U.S. alone making it deadlier than traffic collisions, gun violence or opioid overdoses. As deadly as the flu can be and as easily as it can be transmitted due to it’s highly contagious nature one wonders why the flu vaccination isn’t mandatory as well? The BBC reported that in 1918 between 40 million and 50 million people died from the pandemic flu strain known as the Spanish flu, though that number is likely much higher. World War I was raging in Europe and much of the information coming and going was censored by governments so exact numbers, though likely higher cannot be confirmed. In fact doctors still describe it as “the great medical holocaust in history”. In those days vaccinations weren’t available for the flu but today they are. In an effort to get people to get their flu shots Joshua Schuster, Infection Control Nurse at the V.A. here in Sheridan has this message. 

The battlefield brought people from all over the world together, exposing them to people from places they’d never interacted with before. These geographical differences meant that different strains of the flu as well as other viruses were now being shared by all. That, coupled with poor sanitation and hygiene, as well as hunger which makes the body more susceptible to viruses all created the most deadly medical pandemic in recent history. Sounds an awful lot like kindergarten. For more information on the flu go to www.CDC.gov