A huge push is made by medical professionals for people to get a flu vaccine every year. This year, however, the flu vaccine has shown to be very ineffective at the strain of flu that is going around.
"Officials say the vaccine does not protect well against the dominant strain seen most commonly so far this year. That strain tends to cause more deaths and hospitalizations, especially in the elderly."
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/health/flu-vaccine-may-be-less-effective-this-winter-104349275592.html
The article listed above goes on to say that in general, a "relatively good" effectiveness of a flu shot vaccine is 50-55% Which means, that even though you get your flu shot, you still have a 50/50 chance of getting ill.
I remember learning this a couple years ago and I was complaining to a friend about getting the vaccine. Why should I spend money to get poked if it won't work?
My friend, of course, being a good nurse told me that I should get the vaccine in order to prevent spreading the flu to an immune-compromised patient in the hospital.
However, the shot would not ensure that the patient would acquire the infection regardless of whether or not I had the shot. A nagging question came to mind--> What if the patient acquired a strain of the flu that is not protected by the shot.
Is there something else that I could do to ensure that I do not get sick and thereby preventing the spread of the disease? According to Harvard Medical School, there are other ways to boost your immune system.
A publication by Harvard Health Publications states that "Your first line of defense is to choose a healthy lifestyle." This can be accomplished through: eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low in saturated fat; not smoke; control blood pressure; get adequate sleep each night; exercise regularly; wash my hands and drink alcohol in moderation.
Source: http://www.health.harvard.edu/flu-resource-center/how-to-boost-your-immune-system.htm
Hospitals do a fantastic job of requiring their employees to wash their hands and use hand sanitizer. However, I do not see hospitals endorsing the other recommendations of the Harvard article.
Time and time again, I see patients frustrated with their overweight physicians telling them to lose weight. I have witnessed multiple nurses smoking and chewing tobacco during their breaks. With the stress of residency and requiring doctors to work a 24-hour shift, I doubt that they are getting adequate amounts of sleep.
Along with getting the flu shot, do you think that hospitals should also push these interventions in order to boost the immune system of their staff?
Food for thought.
Shelly, I think you raise an interesting point here. It seems that we have become a culture of drugs. Perhaps, we have a shot, pill, and cream for everything. An emphasis on medication and vaccines could result in more of a focus on the management and treatment of illnesses rather than the (behavioral) prevention of illnesses. I think one challenge causing this focus is that it is difficult to change and modify human behavior. It may be easier to give people a vaccine to prevent an epidemic rather than to try to encourage and promote healthy behaviors. At least, if enough people get a vaccine it may help to ensure that vulnerable populations are a little more protected. I think many of these issues are heavily debated. However, I agree, either way, health and wellbeing should be a greater focus, especially among often stressed and overworked medical professionals.
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