I've got four full physical exams on my schedule for the afternoon.

[Aristus]

Four patients coming in from our substance abuse treatment center for their admission physicals.

I'm going to spend the afternoon listening to people who habitually stick toxic substances into their arms tell me why they object to getting the flu vaccine...

[In_The_Wind]

1. Good luck with that.

[Aristus]

2. I had some success with yesterday's crowd.

I convinced two of the three objectors to get their vaccines. The one holdout, I basically told him to get his health care somewhere else...

[womanofthehills]

5. Wow! So getting a flu shot is more important than helping an addict

[Aristus]

7. The treatment center is helping the patients with their addiction.

I examine them, and approve them for admission to the center. In most cases, I act as their primary care provider while they're in. If they refuse to get their vaccines, I just naturally assume they don't trust my medical judgment, and recommend they find another provider.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

17. DU's resident anti-vaxxer strikes again! nt

[In_The_Wind]

13. 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

[Aristus]

14. Great idea for a song...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear Aristus...

You will have your very competent hands full with these.

I think you'll know what to do.

Best of luck anyway!

[Ohiogal]

4. Yes, good luck!

My best friend's daughter is pregnant .... she refused to take the gestational diabetes test because she read that the solution they make you drink has some preservative in it.

But, a high risk pregnancy specialist convinced her that he could do a test if she ate a whole bunch of jelly beans instead! Now, don't jelly beans have artificial coloring?

[womanofthehills]

12. Actually, no need to take that test loaded with chemicals & food dyes - many drs will just

recommend 16 oz of orange juice. Why keep giving money to big Pharma.

You can get dye-free jelly beans. You only need to eat 28. Our US jellybeans could not be sold in many countries in Europe because of our food dyes.

[Ohiogal]

15. Thanks, womanofthehills!

I wish I had known that before, I could have suggested it to my friend!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

16. Don't listen to her for medical advice.

She’s one of DU’s resident anti-vaxxers.

[demmiblue]

19. +1

[dewsgirl]

26. LOL ..☺

[iscooterliberally]

6. I got my flu shot on Friday.

I got a tetanus shot too. I jokingly asked about rabies since my dog was scheduled for the vet on Saturday. The dog is 14 though and my vet said no more rabies shots for him due to his advanced age. It's not like he can chase any raccoons anymore. His top speed is about .5 mph. I was wondering why people don't get a rabies vaccine too, and I read that it could actually kill some folks. Apparently the margin for error was too high to make it worth doing. I'm not sure how true it is though since I read it on the 'interwebs'. I can only imagine the excuses your patients will come up with to avoid a full shot. I don't think I could ever do anything like heroin. I always have to look the other way when a health care pro sticks me with needle. It only hurts if I watch the needle go in. I could never do that by myself.

[Aristus]

9. If a vaccine isn't safe, we in the medical community hear about it pretty quickly.

They developed a vaccine against Yersinia pestis, or the black plague, a number of years ago. It wasn't very effective, and people suffered some pretty nasty side effects. So it was withdrawn.

[CTyankee]

18. Hi, Aristus. Nice to see your report...I always enjoy them...

You may know this, but speaking of the black plague, did you know it was that plague that caused the Italian Renaissance?

As an art historian I find this very interesting. The black plague was such a devastating thing and wiped out 1/3 of the pristine population in Florence. Those left had a better life because there was more wealth to spread around. It led to leisure and interest in art, which fueled demand for artists...and that is the beginning of that great Renaissance period.

[Aristus]

21. I did, but thank you.

Huge history fan, especially in the ways medicine has affected the trajectory of history.

[CTyankee]

22. Wonderful! It is good to have that historical perspective.

I sometimes wonder if my docs have that...they are fine doing what they do which is practice good medicine but it helps to have an expanded view also.

Oh, I got my flu shot. Also my shingles shot which EVERYBODY should get...I feel like an evangelist about that.

[Aristus]

23. The Plague also led to the rise of the middle class.

With so many deaths among the working classes (the wealthy also died from the plague, but in fewer numbers as a percentage of the whole due to better medical care, nutrition, the availability of 'getaway' residences, etc.) that there was a continent-wide labor shortage. So skilled and unskilled workers were able to demand higher wages, and organized labor became more effective for negotiating for better working hours and so on. This led to the development of the middle class, as higher wages led to the ability to educate the next generation in well-paying professions.

[CTyankee]

33. Yes, I skipped that part but it is important. More money and more leisure time was crucial to

the further development of art. The Mannerists followed (briefly) but then came the glorious Baroque era with its great, heroic work and the glorious architecture that still is Rome today. It was a time of Caravaggio and Bernini, great artists. I loved doing research on this era cuz I got to go to Italy so much. It was a peak moment in my life!

[csziggy]

24. My old vet and his wife, and his vet tech

This was after they were all exposed to rabies. A client's horse had died under mysterious circumstances - they came home, found a shed torn apart, fences damaged, and the horse dead. When the vet was cutting off the head to send into the state for testing, he cut his hand on the horse's tooth. The vet tech tried to help and was cut, too.

The horse was rabid and they thought it had gone into a frenzy at the end, causing all the destruction before it died. By then the vet's wife was exposed while helping to treat his cut. This was decades ago when treatments were not as effective or advanced.

By the end of it, the vet recommended/required all his clients get their horses vaccinated against rabies in addition the other diseases that horses are routinely given preventative measures against. Some clients objected but most agreed to protect their horses, themselves, and everyone who might be exposed.

[dewsgirl]

27. That's a wild story.

[LisaL]

31. I had rabies vaccine as a child.

[iscooterliberally]

35. I have heard of people getting the vaccine after the fact.

I was just wondering why it wasn't given before like other vaccines. I see that someone further down mentioned that it is very expensive and since it can be administered after the fact for people there's no need to do it to everyone. That is a crazy story, but I'm glad everyone turned out OK (except for the poor horse!).

[csziggy]

41. I know the vaccine and treatment for my vet, his wife, and the tech was very expensive

Rabies vaccines for horses are expensive, but not hugely more than the other vaccines we get for ours. It costs less per horse for their vaccines than it does for the ones for our one cat.

[LisaL]

30. I don't think it's because it isn't safe. Rabies vaccine for humans is expensive.

And it can also be given after the exposure. Which is why they don't do it for humans.

[iscooterliberally]

38. That explains a lot.

I sometimes wondered if I should just get it since there's all sorts of critters running around where I live. I have cats too and they do get into things. All my animals are vaccinated for rabies though. I hope there weren't any bad side effects for you. Thank you for the information!

[LisaL]

44. No side effects but the vaccine back then was injected into a stomach area.

So getting the vaccine was really painful.

[PJMcK]

8. I had two physical exams yesterday

For myself.

I got my Flu shot.

I got my second shingles shot.

Anyone who doesn't get their routine vaccinations deserves their personal consequences... but the rest of us don't.

Get your shots, people! It's why they were developed.

I respect your practice and professionalism, Aristus.

[Aristus]

10. Thank you.

[Wellstone ruled]

11. Yah,the irony.

[demmiblue]

20. In more ways than one. n/t

[Aristus]

25. Victory is mine, people! Victory is mine!

Great day in the morning, people; victory is mine!

All vaccinated!

I drink from the keg of glory! Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land...

[demmiblue]

32. A good lesson for not pre-judging people.

This is a really strange reaction.

[Aristus]

34. Well, I did have one guy who thought vaccines were a government plot.

To do what, he didn't say. But he thought vaccines came with a hand tattoo of 666, and was worried about it.

He must not have been that worried, because he agreed to get vaccinated.

[iscooterliberally]

36. I'm glad everything went well!

I would just tell the patient that the 666 hand tattoo isn't covered by insurance and is very expensive.

[Aristus]

37. HA!

I'll have to remember that!...

[eppur_se_muova]

39. Tell him he's reading it upside-down -- it's really 999. nt

[Kurt V.]

28. I've never had a flu shot AND I've never had the flu AND i have no problem with them.

except the needle thingy.

[Skittles]

45. so....it's all about you

[Kurt V.]

46. have some coffee.

[Skittles]

47. educate yourself

https://symptoms.webmd.com/cold-flu-map/flu-vaccines-explained

“It provides community protection,” says William Schaffner, MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “You’re much less likely to spread the flu to others [if you get vaccinated]. You don’t want to give it to someone at work, in your family, at the gym, at religious services. We get the flu vaccine for ourselves and also for everyone around us.”

it's not just about YOU

[Kurt V.]

48. there are susceptible groups and there are ppl like me. our genetic expression

is different and researchers aren't sure why that is.

[Skittles]

49. LOL

DONE here

[Kurt V.]

50. There is plenty of research on this. not everyone needs to get a flu shot. but as a safety

measure nobody says that nor should they. Educate yourself.
https://www.bionews.org.uk/page_93153

[Aristus]

51. I've said it before, Skittles: every group of anti-vaxxers has at least one person who proclaims

"It's ME! I'm the exception! I'm the special one!"

It's like trying to eradicate crabgrass...

[BluesRunTheGame]

29. I got a flu shot for the first time this year and my arm turned bright neon red and exploded!

Not really. No side effects.

[malthaussen]

40. Sounds like a good reason for a Valium. n/t

[Duppers]

42. Hang in there.

Luck to you. 🍀

[flotsam]

43. Anti-vaxx people are a mystery to me and my sister is one

Now this woman is over 70 years old and our old time GP (Pssst:he did house calls!) found a thyroid cancer while she was in her 20's and cut out the thyroid. Now nearly 50 years later she believes a shit ton of wacky shit and pushes "holistic" nonsense to the point she believes our brother who died of a cancerous brain tumor could have been saved if he ignored radiation and chemo and instead started a course of supplements...

[OAITW r.2.0]

52. My girl friend's daughter is a PA and she is starting work with 2 different tele-medicine companies.

What a great concept! Pre-screening and declogging the ER room is something that makes so much sense today. She gets to work out of the house and still do her work that she loves. Her husband is a 4th year resident at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx (he's from the DR and is absolutely brilliant) ....and she gets to have her 3 YO at home with her. Win-win!

[3catwoman3]

53. Just a few days ago, I had a mom decline the flu shot for all of her kids, with the...

...not-so-rational rationale that, "We never get the shot, and we've never had the flu." I simply said, "Past good luck is no guarantee of future success."

Some parents are starting to refuse the Vit K injection given to newborns to protect them against potentially serious bleeding that newborns are at risk for because they cannot manufacture their own vitamin K for about a week.

And now we have "Lotus birth," where people don't believe in cutting the umbilical cord and carry the placenta around in a shoulder bag, still attached to the baby, until it dries up and falls off on its own. One description I read stated that, "After a few days, the meaty smell attracted the attention of the family cat." I'll just bet it did.

[Aristus]

54. Oh, for God's sake...

When did refusing medical care become so erroneously associated with 'enlightened' thinking?