With the onset of this cool moist day, it has reminded me that it is indeed flu season, and as many of my friends, acquaintances, and colleagues start to drop like flies falling victim to that winter monster influenza, I would absolutely love to take this moment as a reminder that if nothing else, a few days with the flu can be borderline unbearable, and we are lucky here in our corner of the developed world to have a miracle of modern medicine: easily accessible flu vaccines. My affinity for run-on sentences aside, I would like to bring your attention to this article from the Red Cross/Red Crescent about their partners in Southeast Asia and the preparations there for flu season. After all, that part of the world has seen some nasty flu epidemics, and while the flu for many of us here means a couple days out of the office miserably lying in bed and wishing for nothing but to feel better and the ability to move more than five feet without feeling like death, many people, especially young children and the elderly, not only in Southeast Asia but in the United States and across the world, do face grave risk every flu season.
Here, volunteers from Red Cross of Timor-Leste canvass as part of an outreach education program:
Great news here in Charlotte: the accessibility of flu shots at clinics across the city creates an easy way to prevent yourself from becoming ill later this season. In fact, here is an article about the many locations one can obtain a flu shot here in Charlotte, some without an appointment. For those in and outside of the Charlotte metropolitan area, CVS offers no-cost flu shots with most insurance plans, and will even give you a 20% shopping pass with your flu shot. Here's a link to their website to find the closest CVS offering flu shots near you.
And, as if you needed any more convincing, here is an article from the International Business Times detailing the need for proactive flu prevention. It is from October at the start of the Ebola epidemic, but has some pretty useful information. According to this article, "the CDC estimates that between 1976 and 2007, influenza-related deaths were as high as 49,000." That's in the United States. Yes, here at home, not a lesser medically developed nation.
Further, I know some of you may be a lot like me. While needles don't bother me, I'm the type who avoids taking so much as ibuprofen for a headache because I don't like the reliance on medicine. Please, don't follow in my footsteps in this regard; the flu is very much a matter of life and death in some cases, even for a healthy young male like myself. No one is invincible, and a flu shot is an easy way to prevent yourself from getting sick, even if for no other reason than to avoid those couple miserable days out of the office. As far as a natural means of prevention to supplement your flu shot is concerned, a clementine (as Beth models below) or other source of Vitamin C can never hurt!
And lastly, because it is my hope that some of you are as into the wacky songs we use for titles as I am, here's a pretty tasty video of Humble Pie performing I Don't Need No Doctor. Hopefully, prepared with a flu shot, you won't either.
Stay healthy, and as always, stay safe, Charlotte!
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