Influenza not taking year off, again! - 3 flu strains in Iowa

Iowa is below Minnesota, to the left of Illinois with a large nose
and small mouth; most consider it the most handsome state.
I thought after last year, influenza would finally take a year off and not cause any problems.  It seems that influenza's streak is getting into Cal Ripken territory.

I also thought that moving to Iowa would limit my exposure to these sorts of transmissible pathogens.  It's not like I see people most days; ain't nobody here but us chickens.  I even thought Dan was joking about measles and mumps.  We have vaccines, we can't possibly have measles and mumps around here!  Apart from what people say, I really do think wishful thinking can prevent influenza if we wish REALLY really hard. If even one of us gives up hope - bam, pandemic.

So I was surprised (not really) to learn that we currently have 3 influenza strains circulating in Iowa (H3N2, H1N1 and Influenza B). From what I gather, there is a good match with the vaccine. So perhaps now would be a good time to get vaccinated.  As Dan said, we are doing well at UIHC with a 93% vaccination rate. Not sure what the vaccine uptake is in the community, but I guess we are about to find out.

Chicago Tribune article


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