Should you get a flu vaccination?

Should you get a flu #vaccination? Yes, but remember #flu vaccines aren’t perfect. 

·     The overall estimated effectiveness of 2018-19 seasonal influenza #vaccine was 47%. This estimate was based on data from more than three thousand children and adults with acute respiratory illness during November 23, 2018–February 2, 2019, [Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report/ February 15, 2019 / 68(6);135–139]. 

·      Flu vaccines for 2019-20 have been updated to better match flu virus expected to be circulating in the U.S.  

·      The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends “high dose” shots for those older than sixty-five. A large clinical trial indicated that a “high-dose “vaccine was 24.2% more effective in preventing flu in adults 65 years of age than a standard-dose vaccine (New England Journal of Medicine 2014; 371:635-645). Other trials show the “high dose” vaccine reduced hospitalizations form flu among those older than sixty-five.

Do flu vaccine recommendations sound like mumbo-jumbo to you? They sounded even more confusing to the residents of a small community in The Flu Is Coming. In this #thriller, a new type of flu kills nearly half of the residents in an upscale, gated community in less than a week. A quarantine makes those who survive virtual prisoners in their homes. The Centers for Disease Control (#CDC) recruits epidemiologist Sara Almquist to find ways to limit the spread of the epidemic. As she pries into the residents’ lives, she finds promising scientific clues but unfortunately learns too much about several of them and violence ensues.

This novel is an exciting read. The Flu Is Coming a finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award. Reading this novel is also a way to learn a bit about the development of flu vaccines. Then you’ll understand better the importance and limitations of vaccines. You could say this novel is a medical mystery within a thriller.

Book and Kindle at:

https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Coming-Science-Traveler/dp/0578423251

VACCINATIONS: FACTS & FICTION

Vaccinations are controversial. However, there is no debate scientifically that #vaccines have saved millions of lives.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that routine childhood immunizations averted 732,000 premature deaths from vaccine-preventable illnesses among children born in the U.S. during 1994–2013. (Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report [April 25, 2014] Vol 63, No. 16)

This estimate doesn’t consider the lives saved by #vaccinations for flu, hepatitis, etc. in adults or the effect of vaccinations internationally.

There are four main reasons that vaccinations are controversial. One is their development is a complex, expensive process taking sometimes ten to fifteen years. Two, viruses are constantly mutating (changing)and hence causing the need for new or altered viruses. Three, any vaccine can cause side effects. Most are minor (a sore arm, headache, a low-grade fever) and go away in a few day. Serious side effects (a severe allergic reaction) are rare (probably less than 1 in a million) but clinic staff are trained to deal with them. Four, many do not like the way scientists and medical personnel couch their answers with so many “ifs” and “buts.”

Thus, The Flu Is Coming is not only a thriller but also an example of the how a flu vaccine could be developed. It's really two mysteries combined. Will a woman epidemiologist be able to find clues that will help stop the spread of a new, deadly flu virus? And will police be able to maintain of a quarantine of a community exposed to this flu virus after the epidemiologist learns too many secrets about the criminal activities of several residents in the community?

Prescription. Learn more about vaccines and their development. If you don’t like dry, technical jargon, read The Flu Is Coming. You’ll learn a bit and get to enjoy an action-packed thriller. Paper back & Kindle versions at: https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Coming-Science-Traveler/dp/0578423251

Blurb: In The Flu Is Coming, a new type of flu — the Philippine flu — kills nearly half of the residents in an upscale, gated community in less than a week. A quarantine makes those who survive virtual prisoners in their homes.The Centers for Disease Control recruit Sara Almquist, a resident of the community, to apply her skills as an epidemiologist to find ways to limit the spread of the epidemic. As she pries into her neighbors’ lives, she finds promising scientific clues but unfortunately learns too much about several of them.

Christmas Is Almost Here!

You’re probably in a rush of baking, shopping, and either traveling to homes of relatives or getting your home ready for company. Breathe deeply.  Do something for yourself. Order a book that will take you away from the holiday hubbub. If you order it now, you’ll have it as you clean up (or procrastinate from cleaning up) after the first onslaught of the holidays.

Here’s your escape plan: The Flu Is Coming.

In The Flu Is Coming, a new type of flu — the Philippine flu — kills nearly half of the residents in an upscale, gated community near Albuquerque in less than a week. Those who survive become virtual prisoners in their homes when a quarantine is imposed.

The Centers of Disease Control recruits Sara Almquist, a resident of the community and a scientist, to apply her skills as an epidemiologist to find ways to limit the spread of the epidemic. As she pries into her neighbors’ lives, she finds promising scientific clues. Unfortunately, she also learns too much about several of them and violence ensues when several try to escape the quarantine.

Available in print and ebook at:

https://www.amazon.com/Flu-Coming-Science-Traveler/dp/0578423251

Try to relax and have a happy holiday!

If you doubt you’ll have time to read a medical thriller, try short stories (4 -10 pages each). The characters in Other People’s Mothers may remind you of your relatives or make you appreciate your more. 

Available in print and ebook at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1544895011 

Where do you get ideas for your writing?

The old dictum (Write about what you know.) is generally good advice. That’s probably why several authors have created successful cozy mystery series based on their hobbies (i.e. gardening, quilting, or cooking). Out of habit, I still thumb through scientific journals. When I read how a few mutations (changes) could turn a bird flu virus into one that can infect humans, I knew that I had the basis for a medical thriller. I called it Coming Flu.

Many authors looking for tax write offs, base their novels on vacation spots, such as the Caribbean islands. I’m not as smart. My next novel Ignore the Pain was based on a coca tea bag, postcards, and other cheap souvenirs that I collected on a trip to Bolivia. I didn’t get a tax write off and the location is grittier than a tropical isle. Readers may be pleased to know my souvenirs did not include a llama fetus from the Witches’ Market in La Paz, Bolivia.

But you don’t have to travel far for ideas. Have you ever wandered down a street in an old section of your home town and wondered what happened behind those facades last year, ten years ago, or even a century ago? Or just go a nearby mall and “people” watch.

Advertisements are under-utilized sources of ideas (particularly humor) for novels. Consider the endorsements of weight loss regimes and products on TV. The sizes of some of the servings of food in these promotions make even small salad plates look large. And many of those “delicious” shakes are nauseating. In my medical mystery Murder:A New Way to Lose Weight, readers get to see how desperate diet doctors can be. They might even be murderers.

But other ads for clothing, cars, and sexual performance medications on TV are also promising. Don’t’ forget those Friday night TV shows, which are thinly covered hour-long advertisements for bridal gowns.

Bug and I would love to hear about your favorite sources of ideas for writing.