Warning Signs

It's tomorrow over there today. We thought we'd highlight the ways of staying safe and when you need to be overly concerned. We do it in the midst of the news reports of four (4) dead in Spokane Washington two (2) (a man and a woman) in their homes, one (1) woman in the hospital and the other man's location is unreported. All but one supposedly with no "underlying conditions." For their jurisdiction that is five deaths since September 1st.

Associated Press (AP), Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), Bloomberg report: "Giving Kids Tylenol Makes Vaccines Less Effective, Study Finds" - "[U]nless your doctor specifically recommends it, do not administer fever-reducing medicines at the same time as vaccination to prevent your child from developing a fever," said Chen, who wrote an editorial accompanying a report in the Oct. 17 issue of The Lancet."

The article isn't online as of yet but by the time you read this it may be. So we have to take their word for it and as we say this is one of our warning signs.

The AP adds: "It is the first major study to tie reduced immunity to the use of fever-lowering medicines. Although the effect was small and the vast majority of kids still got enough protection from vaccines, the results make "a compelling case" against routinely giving Tylenol right after vaccination, say doctors from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Warning signs
The Spokane Regional Health District advises seeking medical care if the following symptoms develop:

Children
• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish or gray skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and a worse cough

Adults
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and a worse cough

"Difficulty breathing; pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen; sudden dizziness; confusion; severe or persistent vomiting; and the easing of flu symptoms followed by a return with a fever and worse cough."

"In children, emergency warning signs also include rapid breathing, bluish or gray skin color, not drinking enough fluids, not waking up or interacting with others; extreme irritability."

"Anyone experiencing those symptoms should seek medical care, the Health District says."

"Those are signs that the illness is outpacing the body’s ability to fight it, said Bill Edstrom, an epidemiologist with the health district. As the illness becomes severe, it moves from the upper respiratory system – the nose and throat – into the lungs and lower respiratory system, making breathing difficult and reducing the oxygen a patient is taking in. As it progresses, it begins weakening other organs and can lead to complications like infections and other illnesses."

“The body starts shutting down,” Edstrom said. “The kidneys might go. Other organs also might fail, and eventually the heart would fail.”

Fore armed is forewarned. Live your life.