What Do You Do--To Prevent the Flu?

Flu IQ

         

The last time I had the flu I came face to face with my mortality. My fever rose to 106 and I couldn't feel my feet when they touched the ground. I was so sick I reached that terrible point that I wasn't sure if in fact I would recover. And then, in a seeming miracle, my body began its ascent to the world of health.

Since then I have not taken the flu lightly. I view it as my enemy, and I do all I can to keep it in its own camp. When the Swine Flu reared its ugly head a few years ago, there was a great deal of fear mongering in the media. Images of people in Mexico made us all think that a mere breath of air without a protective mask on might leave us prostrate and suffering.

That was not the case, and even though the word "pandemic" was tossed around until people were suitably intimidated, things seemed to be under control.

Still, last year I brought my entire family to the health center for the flu shots--seasonal and swine--and we remained healthy all year. I suppose this could be a coincidence. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances who say 'no thanks' to inoculations and remain perfectly healthy anyway. There are others who say, "I got the flu shot and THEN I got sick." (That too, health organizations tell us, is coincidence).

But my memories of my last flu make me want to take whatever action I can to gird myself against ill health. Yes, I try to get enough sleep and eat healthy foods. But I feel that any extra weapon I can have against the monster flu, I will take. I teach at a high school, a veritable breeding ground for every virus that appears on earth. I have not used the drinking fountain at the school since my last flu (I read that it is the number one place that people pick up viri) and that, too, seems to have kept me healthier.

Still, we're making appointments for the innoculations.

What's your view of the flu shots? How did you do on the quiz above?