My Flu Shot

Yesterday our company gave us a Pneumo 23 Vaccine for free, wow this saves us about P1,500. This vaccine as far as I know is also for Bird Flu virus which as we know is spreading in Southeast Asia like Indonesia and Vietnam.

I google about Bird Flu also known as Avian Infuenza and it says that:

Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide. All birds are thought to be susceptible to infection with avian influenza, though some species are more resistant to infection than others. Infection causes a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness to a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease resulting in severe epidemics. The latter is known as “highly pathogenic avian influenza”. This form is characterized by sudden onset, severe illness, and rapid death, with a mortality that can approach 100%. Fifteen subtypes of influenza virus are known to infect birds, thus providing an extensive reservoir of influenza viruses potentially circulating in bird populations. To date, all outbreaks of the highly pathogenic form have been caused by influenza A viruses of subtypes H5 and H7. Click here
for more details

I also remember that this vaccine was already given to my daughter when she was 2-3 yrs old and my Pulmo doctor also recommend to me (last 2003) to have a flu shot since I had an asthma that sometimes gave me a hard time coughing that might lead to Pneumonia but that time I didn’t take his advise because I spend P1,000 almost every month for my inhaler that time. Well this shot that our company gave is a big help for those who can’t afford a P1,500 one time fee.

For now I still feel the numbness feeling on my left arm.