Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

A Better Flu Home Remedy
When Chase-Manhattan lender David Givens began to feel some of the early symptoms of the flu - fatigue, muscle aches and pains (not from exercise), and a slight fever - he had no reason to expect he'd be, as he put it, "amazingly better within 2...

Helping Mid-Life Employees Find Meaning
People work to live, but most also live to work. A study on the meaning of work conducted back in 1987 revealed a strong attachment to work as a way of life. The study found that 86 percent of people would continue working even if they had...

Home Remedy for Toenail Fungus- Olive Leaf Extract
Olive Leaf Extract to Treat Toenail Fungus For centuries the olive leaf has provided a natural way to heal many ailments of the body. This is due to the active agent in olive leaf extract known as oleuropein. This bitter substance is an element of...

Sinus infection: The four way treatment
If you feel like you may have a sinus infection, the right type of doctor that can answer your problem is an Otolaryngontolist or Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. These doctors are well trained in the diagnosis and treatment of sinus infections. ...

TREATING HYPERTENSION
In most cases, high blood pressure is usually present long before its complications developed and shows some of its symptoms. In order to treat high blood pressure it is important to detect it in its earliest stage before it can do severe damages to...

 
What's a Fujian Flu?

Introduction

There is a flu outbreak every year and there is a new flu vaccine being introduced every year. The reason is this - the flu virus changes or mutate a little every year, making it impossible to create a vaccine that is permanently effective year after year. Instead, each year a new flu vaccine needs to be introduced that is effective for that particular year.

According to data from Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA, this year's flu outbreak that is happening in USA is mainly due to flu virus of the Fujian variant (79%) and the Panama variant (21%).

So, is flu vaccine effective?

No vaccine is 100% effective. For the flu vaccine to be effective for this outbreak, ideally the vaccine needs to contain both the Fujian and Panama variants. Unfortunately, the present available flu vaccine isn't.

However, that is not to say that the vaccine is totally useless. It would still afford a certain degree of protection as there is cross-immunity. In other words, the immunity that you get from one particular variant provides you with partial protection against other variants. Some protection is better than no protection, particularly for the immuno-compromised, such as:

-those above 65 years old
-children below 2
-people undergoing treatment for terminal illness
-those travelling to affected areas in USA

Some Common Sense Approaches

As in all outbreaks, the flu vaccine is currently difficult to


come by as demands outstripped supply. Thus, if you think you are likely to be affected, try to get the vaccine as soon as you can. It takes two weeks after the injection for the antibodies to be produced and for you to be protected. So, if you're going to USA in two weeks time, go for your shot now!

Besides the vaccine, there are some simple preventive measures you can take.

1. Wash your hands every time you touch something that others have touched. Flu is air-borne and droplets containing the virus can deposit on any thing you touched. Carry wipes with you, for that purpose, when away from home.

2. Boost up your immunity by eating a proper and balanced diet, containing lots of vegetables and fruits. Go for your daily walks or exercise, even if it's only for 10-15 minutes. Drink plenty of water. Take vitamins and mineral supplements if you think you're deficient in those.

3. Avoid crowded places. Being in a crowded place increases your risk of being exposed to someone with the flu.

4. If you're having the flu, stop it from spreading by staying at home or covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze.

About the Author

Dr Tim Ong is a medical doctor with more than 13 years of clinical experience in family medicine. He is also the webmaster of KlinikOng.com (http://www.klinikong.com), The Self Improvement Site (http://www.theselfimprovementsite.com)and Caring for the Terminally Ill (http://www.caring-terminally-ill.com).

 

National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ...
www.nlm.nih.gov
 
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns.
www.medicinenet.com
 
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ...
dir.yahoo.com
 
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
medlineplus.gov
 
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Journal Home - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ...
www.nature.com
 
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ...
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ...
content.nejm.org
 
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ...
www.emedicine.com
 
Open Directory - Health: Medicine
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ...
dmoz.org
 
the www virtual library biosciences medicine
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages
 
Medicine - home
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice.
www.md-journal.com
 
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health.
www.iom.edu
 
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily.
www.sciencedaily.com
 
Google Directory - Health > Medicine
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ...
www.google.com
 
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages
 
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ...
medicine.plosjournals.org
 
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com.
www.priory.com
 
Entrez PubMed
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
med.stanford.edu
 
Medicine OnLine
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ...
www.meds.com