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I was vaccinated, still got the flu, now what?

By
Alan
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Well it appears that the flu season is once again upon us and healthcare officials are encouraging everyone to be vaccinated.

Most heed the warnings and notices and head right out to get their flu shots.

But what if you followed all of the advice and did everything by the book and still caught the flu? Does it mean that your vaccination was bogus? Did health officials lie?

Well, not exactly.

Flu vaccine administered
Flu vaccine administered (tap or click on image to enlarge)

You see, there are many different variations of what we have come to know as the “flu” — The “flu”, over the years, has been used to describe nearly anything that might cause us to not feel well, and generally speaking, the flu does seem to cover quite a bit when you stop to consider just how many strains and sub-strains of the flu there actually are.

 

 

The flu, or Influenza, as it’s commonly referred to in medical circles, comes in three main types:

1) Influenza A
2) Influenza B
3) Influenza C

Among these main types are what we like to call sub-types, or subdivisions.

The influenza A virus, for instance, can be subdivided into different serotypes based on the type of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. The “H” in “H1N1” for example refers to hemagglutinin (HA) and “N” in “H1N1” refers to neuraminidase (NA). There are 16 different types of HA and 9 different types of NA, therefore, there are potentially 144 different sub-types of influenza A viruses.

Among them, two sub-types of influenza A, H1N1 and H3N2, most commonly infect humans. For each sub-type virus, the hemagglutinin gene mutates all the time and hence there are many variants of the same sub-type viruses, and hence the need to change the virus strain for seasonal flu vaccines on an annual basis.

So you got your flu shot and you still got sick.

Since there are so many different sub-types, or subdivisions of just the type A virus, a lot of work goes into determining just which vaccine should be used for the upcoming flu season. Health officials usually do a pretty good job of getting it right, but sometimes, even with all of their combined calculative effort, it can still come out wrong. The right vaccine could have been selected for the season only to have the strain change or drift before the start of flu season.

And so maybe this year health officials got it right, but you just ended up with a strain that wasn’t covered in the vaccine you received. Maybe your version of the flu had drifted a little before the season started.

The flu virus in and of itself is a constantly evolving thing. Pitching and yawing tither and yon on a seemingly monthly basis. Coming up with a new or different vaccine every year might remind some of us of that whack-a-mole game we like to play at the county fair, although getting to a right vaccine is somewhat more scientific.

Seasonal flu vaccine effectiveness
Seasonal flu vaccine effectiveness (tap or click on image to enlarge)

The average rate of effectiveness of any annual vaccine can range anywhere between 37% to 60% — You may have noticed the large swing in percentages, or most notably the lowest percentage. There isn’t just one single reason for the swings in statistics.

When you stop and consider the variants, or subdivisions related to just the Influenza A virus itself, and then pile on all of the millions of people who never wash their hands, or who never cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze, or as a general rule fail to practice every day personal hygiene, one might come away with the notion of just how good these statistics actually do look.

Our medical professionals aren’t gods or miracle workers by any stretch – They are just a cog in your every day wheel of health — Your health depends on you too — Staying healthy during the flu season, or any other season for that matter, is a team sport and we all need to be team players when it comes down to our health.

What are the Health Benefits of Beer?

By
Alan
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Despite beer’s bad reputation, it actually has a number of natural antioxidants and vitamins that can help prevent heart disease and even rebuild muscle. It also has one of the highest energy contents of any food or drink. Of course, this means you need to set limits – one beer gets you going, four makes you fat.

If you’re worried about dehydration, keep in mind that beer is 93 percent water. Also, according to a Spanish study, beer may actually provide better hydration than H2O alone when you’re sweating it out under the sun.

So with all of this in mind, which kind of beer should you reach for? Calorie-wise, you may be tempted to grab a light lager, but for health benefits, a dark beer is the better choice.

Dark beers tend to have the most antioxidants, which help reverse cellular damage that occurs naturally in the body. A recent study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture has also found that dark beer has higher iron content compared to lighter beers. Remember, iron is an essential mineral that our bodies need. Iron is a part of all cells and does many jobs including carrying oxygen from our lungs throughout the rest of our bodies.

Another good choice is micro-brews, which are healthier than mass-produced cans, because they have more hops. Hops contain polyphenols, which help lower cholesterol, fight cancer and kill viruses.

Just remember the golden rule: Everything in moderation. You don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of your friends by drinking too much, and you certainly don’t want to put yourself at risk for any long-term health effects like liver problems, kidney diseases and heart disease.

The Best School west of the Mississippi

By
Alan
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To build Great Falls Central High School, the community worked together to assemble materials from far and wide.

Disaster Averted

By
Alan
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In 1898, a rooming house suddenly collapsed in Butte

Arlyne Reichert Community Heritage Bridge

By
Alan
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10th street bridge, Great Falls Montana
10th street bridge, Great Falls Montana

Did the Luminaria walk the other night and I was somewhat disappointed at just how poor of a job they did restoring the old 10th street bridge deck .. walking surface was uneven asphalt that you couldn’t see because there is no lighting on the bridge and the lights at the refinery blinded you even more. As far as being ADA compliant, you better lock the front hubs on that wheel chair of yours, because you might be in for an off road experience you may want to write home to mother about.

Fake paper flowers and surprise, surprise, no picnic tables. I couldn’t imagine anybody having a picnic on that thing anyway for all of the wonderful appetizing smells that ooze from the refinery. I haven’t been on that bridge since the late 80’s. I came away with the notion that the bridge now is about as dangerous to walk on as it was to drive on then.

Back in the day it was better to stop at one end of the bridge if you saw a large truck coming from the other direction because it just wasn’t wide enough to safely cross any other way.

The Luminaria walk was great, and quite a few people showed up. Temps were mild with a slight breeze and everyone that I spoke to seemed to be having a great time.
What I found to be interesting was that out of all of the people I had talked to, not one ever actually had driven across the bridge when it was open.

When I ran away from Missoula all of those seemingly many years ago, I found myself having to cross that bridge on occasion. Fair enough I suppose — Every town has it’s little quirks … Missoula had malfunction junction and Great Falls had the 10th street bridge.

Back in the days of the Model T, the 10th street bridge must have been the Bees Knees. A wonderful addition to a growing industrial town that was coming into it’s own. The bridge served it’s very useful purpose for many many years. I’m pretty sure that when the bridge was built 100 years ago, the only things that existed on the north bank was the town of Black Eagle, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company smelter, wire mill, and a brick plant. The bridge opened up the north bank and the rest is history.

Excitement, for whatever it was worth at the time, grew immensely, when the state began construction on the new 9th street bridge. A new modern 4 lane bridge was long over due in my opinion, and they couldn’t get that thing finished fast enough. I’d been resigned to using the 15th street bridge long enough, so I was quite ready for a decent crossing at 10th street. I was more excited to drive the new bridge than I was about watching the old bridge being blown up.

Coming on to the old 9th street bridge from the south end off of River Drive was an experience in itself during the dead of winter, so when the new 9th street bridge was built, River Drive was realigned and straightened to meet the new entrance. Much much safer indeed.

The city of Great Falls was hooked out of the $400K that the state gave them to demolish the 9th street bridge because 5,000 people out of about 62,000 people signed a petition to save the bridge. And so the bridge sat …. for years …

Even with all that’s been done to the bridge, you can still see the rotten crumbling concrete. They put some fancy blue lights on it, and some fancy looking railings on it, and pretty much called it a day. Everything looks better in the dark I suppose.

So we wait.

Montana may not be well known for it’s great number of earthquakes, but earthquakes here do happen. I’m guessing that somewhere along the line we’ll have a 4 pointer that will bring that unsightly monolithic concrete eyesore down once and for all. For as rotten as portions of the concrete underneath it are, it may just end up falling down all by itself anyway, because, you know … gravity.

As an aside, with the official naming of the 10th street bridge to the Arlyne Reichert Community Heritage Bridge, all of the bridges in Great Falls have names now.

The 15th Street Bridge over the Missouri River is named for pioneer physician Dr. Harry McGregor, who practiced in Choteau and later Great Falls and who is considered to be the father of the Montana 200 Highway across central Montana.

The George Shanley Bridge, is named for the late architect, and is the bridge that connects to 1st Avenue North on one end and Central Avenue West on the other.

The Warden Bridge, which lines up with 10th Avenue South and was named for late Tribune publisher O.S. Warden, who also served on the Montana Highway Commission.

The Eagle Falls Memorial Bridge, or the 9th Street Bridge, is the newest of the city’s major bridges, and replaces the old 10th Street bridge.

The 6th Street SW bridge over the Sun River is named for longtime U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield.

The pedestrian bridge located just north of the 1st Avenue North Bridge is called the Weissman Memorial Bridge.

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