Flu panic

[jules321]

Forgive me - another flu thread. Y'all just might have to tolerate one a week (a day?) by me for the duration of the flu season.

I'm seriously panicking. Someone just told me (thanks a lot) about a healthy woman my age who just died of the flu and had received the vaccine. First, I don't know why people feel the need to tell me these things (their own fear) - but HELP. I am not keeping it together well. It'd be one thing if I could just isolate in my own house as I have been able to before years ago... but now I have a husband who is often at work functions with *hundreds* of people and a child who goes to school everyday. I feel doomed. It's the only way to put it. What I keep trying to remind myself is that flu doesn't equal death. I am so scared of the getting the flu because I'm equating flu with death... but death from flu is actually pretty rare.... right?!!?

Help me out please, people. I usually consciously avoid seeking reassurance but that's failing me right now. Freaking out.

[Speranza]

Yes it IS rare. I have had flu many times over the decades and I am still here. Moreover, my mum and brother both had Hong Kong flu (you may not remember it, it was a killer) and survived - that was in the days before flu vaccines so all you could do was get over it with your own antibodies.

Remember, if we couldn't survive these things, we wouldn't have got this far as a species.

Also, positive outlook is supposed to boost immunity. tbh there is little point worrying about flu in an outbreak. You could stay indoors but still come into contact with the virus. Quite possibly having family members who are out and about will have helped your immunity. Sitting worrying certainly won't.

Flu isn't a death sentence. You're quite right. Don't listen to bad stories. All illnesses have tragic stories if you want them. But you don't.

P.S. I have a friend who is 69 who has just had the flu. She did tell me she felt as though she was dying - but she didn't die!

[Chris 614]

I know. Some people seem to blurt out negative stuff willy nilly. Today my son's caregiver announced that two children have died of the flu in Oregon (where we live)! I said...wow, I don't really want to hear this!!

I know we hear about all of the awful flu stuff. I looked up statistics about how many people actually get the flu in the U.S.. On webmd it says that between 5-20% of people get it. That means that 80-95% of people do NOT get it!! Years ago, before the internet, I didn't know anything about the flu. I just knew people got it and got better. It didn't ever worry me. I never watched the news of read the newspaper...it was too depressing. And now I'm on the internet every day and can't help but click on the awful articles some days! That's not good. Ignorance truly is bliss sometimes!

What you can do for yourself is wash your hands often. Don't touch your face. Etc., Etc.. You know the drill.

[NancyW]

Nearly everyone I know including me has had the flu this year. I have a very public job and see hundreds of people each week.

No one died.

[chibear]

Dying from the flu is rare and dying from the flu after getting the flu shot is even more rare.

Here’s something to think about: You hear about otherwise healthy people dying from the flu because it is so rare. Therefore it gets a lot of attention. There are probably millions with the flu right now and they’re all going to be okay.