Quote:
Originally Posted by DrChango
As it is "off season" it will have less of a chance to spread as fewer people are cooped up in doors in close proximity. Also, in the winter, at least in the average American home, the air is incredibly dry. With heaters running and no humidifiers, homes in the winter get as dry as the Sahara even in damper areas of the country. With people breathing very dry air, their sinuses and throats become dessicated, which adversely affects their health and makes the more susceptible to cold and flu viruses.
I think the flu vaccines are a mixed blessing vis-a-vis the "regular" flu strains as they often make people sick (if not as sick) in some cases, and in others it acts as a crutch to the immune system. I think healthy people shouldn't get them, only people like the elderly and small children who would be at serious risk. Just my $.02
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The vaccines are intended for the very people you speak of and those who work around them, thats it. Others who use them have no need to and probably shouldn't be.
As for it being off season and the whole proximity thing I disagree. People in warmer times are more social and visit more people (cook outs, movies, picnics, parties, swimming, travel, etc.). More contact would typically mean a higher chance of human to human contact. Then as you already said about the air being dry, nasal dryness, etc. All would be in effect due to the heat.
The above though does not change the issue of that we just do not know this virus yet.