Re: Who is protecting us? CDC N95 mask for H1N1
The answer to that, is no one but we, ourselves can protect us. If your hospital doesn't provide needed, recommended N95 masks, buy your own for your use, and bill your employer for them. When enough of you do that, contact your media for exposure of it. Believe me, you'll get the N95s. Please, just be sure they're fitted properly so that no air escapes when you wear it and blow forcefully. As most of us have found, when we buy our own equipment (stethascopes) we get one we can trust. N95s are cheaper.
The government has been preoccupied with the economic situation, Afghanistan and Health insurance companies' self indulgernce and diplomatic Health Care Reform without reaching acceptable conclusions for any of those situations. CDC protects its own interests, even eschewing Canadian studies on 2,000 people that showed that H1N1 vaccine needs to be given BEFORE seasonal flu vaccine, due to increased susceptibility of those who had seasonal vaccine first, to get H1N1 flu quickly thereafter (like I did). Without any evidence of having done any American studies, they have told epidemiologists throughout our country, that the Canadian study couldn't be replicated! True. No funding here for that study, or time or personnel was allotted to do it! Such puffery is intolerable and too costly in morbidity and loss of human lives! That doesn't sound like a mild flu to me.
The public has been nattering on about their suspicions that our Health agencies administer "dangerous" vaccines that have tiny bits of mercury in its composition (there for the purpose of distributing it more evenly, incidently), while thimerasol free vaccines can be obtained for most of them. However in Los Angeles, it was demonstrated that most people want it, by the lengthy lines of people waiting (mostly in vane) to be vaccinated. There, they didn't even vaccinate those at highest risk first. In Northern CA, they did place signs indicating that high risk individuals would be vaccinated first, and ran out of vaccine in the middle of the second day they had it.
Like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, our elected statespeople have been twittering and quibbling about the above topics, while the FDA refused to approve Glaxo Smith's vaccine that was ready for pick-up weeks ago. Canada picked up their contracted amount of vaccine from them, and set their priorities regarding how and to whom it would be administered, and did that for high risk persons first, and
before the administration of seasonal flu vaccine, to avoid untimely deaths from subsequent increased susceptibility to H1N1. There will need to be considerable "Monday night quarterback" consideration of statistics following this debacle, when they show fewer mortality and morbidity in Canada and other countries, from H1N1. Just as comparisons of the loss of fetal and newborn lives in the USA is higher than is tolerable, and that has received the "Oh, well" kind of notice.
Do I sound furious? Well, I am! I have lived in the USA for 47 years, wondering and watching for some relief from medical costs that are obscenely visible; and thinking that all the proposals for relief of that would reach fruition. However as I watch the considerable efforts of well meaning, bright people and their not-so-bright and/or downright unscrupulous opponents, I watched my Canadian family members, one of whom is a physician there, who are in wonder that Americans put up with the deficiencies in health care, and I wonder what keeps me here. The answer is always, my children and their children.
I work hard for the changes that seem ever close, until they're shot down in one or both governmental houses. Supporting Obama in VA wasn't easy, as I sought to reveal the blatant lies that accompany each improvement planned for health care. Finally the truth becomes evident, once noses are shoved into the garbage claims we've had to disprove.
It reminds me of a child's story from long ago, in which the protagonist says in a tiny voice, "I looked all around for the enemy, and saw that the enemy was me". To be protected, we must do it ourselves. If we fall for whatever we hear that smacks of the old victim, rescuer, perpetrator triangle described by Eric Berne in his book "Games People Play", we see that all three is me. Drama occurs when the roles rotate, and we see others in those roles. Some people prefer drama to calm determination.
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