Flu Lines

During the riots in the 60s the national guard was called out and a curfew was established. Now might be the time to enact such a measure. Why? Long lines of people queuing up to receive a limited number of flu shots seems counter productive. While most people are not infected allow for such a large congregations seems to us, whether waiting outside or inside for the vaccine, to be breeding ground for infection. We would discourage anyone from lining up excessively to receive treatment though we must admit awaiting further supplies to arrive seems extremely dangerous.

According to the manufacturer of the vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur, "Production of seasonal influenza vaccine for both Northern and Southern hemispheres is still a priority as seasonal influenza is a very serious illness, causing an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 deaths per year, according to WHO global figures."

Only the protected can be certain of survival. While the figures are worldwide the Associated Press (AP) reports: "Since April, swine flu has killed more than 800 people in the U.S., including 86 children, 39 of them in the past month and a half, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of all hospitalizations since the beginning of September were people 24 and under." Locally we know the number to be to date in our jurisdiction as reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be in excess of 858 in our area alone. These are the actual figures reported to the CDC by our health department not reported to the public.

AP quotes the CDC as saying: "Federal officials counsel patience, saying that eventually there should be enough of both vaccines for everyone who wants them." The CDC reported through Dr. Anne Schuchat: "Influenza is widespread in the country and illness, hospitalizations and deaths continue to increase. 41 states are now identifying widespread disease from influenza, that's up from 37 last week. The other states are all seeing either regional or local activity. It's unprecedented for this time of year to have the whole country seeing such high levels of activity." (Listen)

The Associated Press added: "Flu vaccines are not nearly as profitable as other kinds of drugs, and most of the biggest vaccine makers have little incentive to switch from a method with which they are familiar. At its two plants in the Pocono Mountains town of Swiftwater, Sanofi Pasteur, the top U.S. supplier of seasonal vaccine, is churning out more than 75 million doses of swine flu vaccine and 50 million doses of the winter flu variety."

Sanofi Pasteur not getting with the party line reports: "For U.S. Residents Only - The $150 million, 140,000 square-foot vaccine facility is part of the company’s commitment to support public health and to protect individuals against seasonal and pandemic influenza. When operating at full capacity, the new influenza facility is expected to produce 100 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine annually. In total, sanofi pasteur will have a capacity of approximately 150 million does of trivalent seasonal vaccine per year in the U.S. – 50 million doses from the existing facility and 100 million doses from the new facility when operating at full capacity." (Video)

We love the Los Angeles Times (LA Times.com) but they (actually reporter Thomas H. Maugh II) gets it wrong: "(C)oncern is growing that the vaccine may arrive too late to do much good. Statistician Sherry Towers and Zhilan Feng of Purdue University reported last week in the journal Eurosurveillance that a mathematical model of the swine flu pandemic predicts that the disease will peak this week."

What Eurosurveillance report actually states first off: "(I)t should be noted that the actual periodic function underlying seasonal forcing of influenza has not been well studied, and the uncertainties in the model predictions arising from seasonal forcing assumptions are difficult to quantify."

Total Doses Shipped as of	10/14/09
District of Columbia Maryland Virginia	14500 130700 265100
TOTALS	410300

There are people infected and recovering. Our warnings are to those who aren't feeling well enough after four (4) days when you've taken care of yourself as soon as you've felt more miserable than you ever have. Get treatment and get it right away. Have someone with you - don't make an appointment - it's too late for that get the shot. Demand the shot. IF YOU'RE ILL. We know you won't be able to do this yourself but have someone available to fight for you. Get someone to fight for you. Demand treatment regardless of whether or not your physician believes you need it or not. What will getting the treatment do to hurt you? It will save your life.

You Are Where You Live

Where you live can determine how long you live? Maybe and we're not talking "Three Mile island" or "Love Canal" locations but when you're considering schools system, recreation facilities, parks, bike paths, crime rates you might want to add the availability of "fruit and veg" stands to your list of neighborhood home purchase considerations.

What we love is this blame the environment studies rather than blaming the victim. It's not that we are anti-earthers we don't hate the planet. We don't! We love mother earth. What we don't like is old useless suggestions that ignore prior failures of implementation. Failures aren't what we should be studying successes are.

ABC News does it again. Call it reporting on truly environmental (sustainable) planning: "[T]he risk of diabetes associated with living in such a "healthy" 'hood was 38% lower than for people who lived in the unhealthiest places, Dr. Amy H. Auchincloss of Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia and her colleagues found. The findings raise the possibility, Auchincloss told Reuters Health, that changing people's environments could help improve their health. "There's certainly a lot of potential for making an impact," she added, pointing to initiatives like improving public transportation, increasing green space, making sidewalks safer, and opening farmer's markets in urban neighborhoods where supermarkets are scarce."

The LA Times does it better and we recommend you read their story asking: "Can your neighborhood make you sick? Type 2 diabetes may not be contagious, but it certainly appears to be spreading. In 1958, the prevalence was 0.9%. By 2000 it had climbed to 4.4%, and it’s projected to hit 7.2% in 2050. What accounts for this? Perhaps it’s the way residential neighborhoods have evolved to accommodate car rides to fast-food restaurants instead of walks to corner grocery stands."

MSN is not a normal source of information for us adds: "People who live in neighborhoods that promote physical activity and offer access to healthy foods may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, researchers say. Their study included 2,285 people, aged 45 to 84, living in neighborhoods in Baltimore, Forsyth County, N.C., and New York City/Bronx. Their neighborhoods were assessed by asking residents questions, such as whether it's easy or pleasant to walk in their community, and whether local stores carry a large, high-quality selection of fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods. Average neighborhood scores were 3.68 for physical activity and 3.36 for healthy foods, the researchers found."

We have to take their word for it but we did ask Assistant Professor Amy H. Auchincloss of Drexel University if any of the above mentioned three got it right. We'll let you know what she says.

While the stories focused on type 2 diabetes the LATimes incorporates a PearlieMaes style of investigation of multiple studies that reached similar conclusions. One of the reasons we love the LATimes is reporting that goes beyond the obvious to real reporting. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) "Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) - (which) investigated the prevalence, correlates, and progression of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) and risk factors that predict progression to clinically overt CVD, and that predict progression of subclinical disease itself, in a population-based sample of 6,800 ethnically diverse men and women."

The green elements of the solution to our health issues include a "Whole Foods" philosophy of using products and produce locally produced to reduce the transportation and energy cost associated with bring items from longer distances to reduce our carbon foot print. Less expenses mean more savings in our pockets and to our planet. Its easier being green than you thought when we think and better plan.