Why is the flu so bad this year
Why Is The Flu So Bad This Year? | CNBC
we hear that the this year's vaccines
only been 10 percent effective will we
ever get past this annual guessing game
that the companies have to do where we
have a more effective vaccine every year
three things to understand first every
year we track how flu changes around the
world to try to predict what's going to
happen here Australia had a 10%
effectiveness we think we may see a 30%
effectiveness that's still a whole lot
better than a zero present effectiveness
which is what you get if you don't get
the vaccine second there are lots of
things you can do besides or in addition
to vaccinations that can help wash your
hands cover your coffee if you're sick
don't go out and make other people sick
that really does increase the spread
through society alright and if you're
sick go to the hospital or your doctor
and see about getting Tamiflu because
that could reduce your illness and keep
you out of the hospital or make you not
get as sick as you would be otherwise
I've been washing my hands like crazy
and I and I got the flu vaccine now that
we know more about how bad this
particular strand is is there anything
else people can do are there any
follow-up vaccines or anything like that
because again you know as you know well
know about New York City it's kind of
hard to avoid contact with a lot of
other potentially sick people it is and
every year that's why flu causes tens of
millions of illnesses and hundreds of
thousands of hospitalizations it's why
it's important that everyone get a flu
shot but there are limited things that
we can do as individuals there are
things that we can do as a society some
of the things I'm really insisting that
people not go to work sick cover your
mouth when you cough do make a
difference if you do get sick important
to consider getting medication because
that can keep you out of the hospital or
make you less sick Meg dr. Frieden it's
a--it's Meg Terrell out in San Francisco
of course flu is a huge problem but
we're also hearing about perhaps the US
and the world's lack of preparedness for
other huge pandemics and if we get
something that we really have no way of
addressing pharmaceutical companies may
not be incentivized based on past
experiences to really step up there and
put aside their more profit making work
to work there what solutions do you see
if any on the horizon for it for fixing
that problem in Ebola the companies did
come forward
and come up with new products they
worked hard they put their own money
into it so there was a lot of really
good governance good citizenship during
Ebola we need that kind of approach even
when there's not a global epidemic that
means that Congress needs to come up
with the money to fund the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to be
able to strengthen the systems around
the world to find stop and prevent
health threats where they emerge so we
can fight them there and don't have to
fight them here the IV bag thing is
freaking me out I mean when you read
about this have such a basic thing can
be in such short supply to understand
the Puerto Rico storms hit but the
articles have also raised concerns about
the quality of these bags period over
the last couple of years what can be
done there to quickly get more IV bags
up and running and make sure that
they're not defective it's important
that we recognize that if you have a
just-in-time delivery system you're
going to have a problem when you have a
surge so you have to anticipate surges
like flu and build up your stock before
them and come up with redundant systems
in an emergency you don't want to be
breaking the glass and trying something
new you want to have a robust system
that you can scale up when needed by the
way is it my imagination are we hearing
more about fatalities this year than in
past years it's likely that we may
tragically see more fatalities this year
this strain of flu is usually tougher on
the elderly as well as on kids so if
that just speaks to your suggestion that
if you get sick you know seek care
immediately right absolutely
don't don't wait don't just get in bed
and wait for it to go away particularly
if you have an underlying health
condition the lung problem or a heart
problem or you're older these are the
people who are more likely to get into
serious problems or women who are
pregnant if you get very sick from flu
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