What’s In a Face?

That may be the question of the future, as medical experts conduct more face transplants.

Today, the world’s first full face transplant recipient – identified only as “Oscar” – showed off his new face at a press conference at a Spanish hospital.

Last March, over 30 doctors at the University Hospital Vall D’Hebron in Barcelona, Spain worked on “Oscar” whose face was severely injured in an accident.

The surgeons transplanted the entire facial skin and muscles, including the nose, lips, cheekbones, even the complete mouth, including the palate and teeth.

The full face transplant took just over 24 hours of surgery, and months of recovery.

Partial face transplants had successfully been done previously in France, China, the United States and Spain.

Organ donation has always been a controversial topic, but now may be reaching new levels of complexity. When an organ donor provides a much needed heart or liver to a person in need, the chances of the donor’s friends and family recognizing him or her are seldom to none.

In fact, one of the golden rules of organ donation is the donor’s family and friends are never told the name of the person or persons receiving the life-saving organs.

But a face – a human face – is perhaps the most common way we recognize one another.

Imaging walking down the street only to be shocked to see your deceased best friend stroll past? The thought is enough to send ghostly shivers up one’s spine.

Is it right to transpose another person’s likeness – their face – upon someone else? If we were able to alter the original face, how much is enough – and is this even ethically correct? Should the family and friends of the donor be told who the recipient of the new face is ahead of time? Should the donor’s family and the recipient’s meet – and if so, do either party have a vote in whether or not to proceed?

As modern medicine constantly amazes with new ways to mend us, we as a society will have to tackle the complex philosophical and ethical questions about the nature and value of these modern medicinal cures.

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Parents – PLEASE – Be Parents

Every year at this time, we hear about a horrible tragedy of a child drowning in a recently opened unattended pool.

Just yesterday, a four-year-old Toronto-area girl was plucked from the clutches of death, after she fell into just such a pool. The child is currently in critical condition in hospital, but is expected to recover.

A few weeks ago, a child was run over dead in her driveway, by her own mom, who claimed she didn’t see her baby girl playing behind her mini-van. Another child suffered the same fate less than a week later in a different Toronto neighborhood, also by the parent.

Kids will always be kids. They tumble, and fall, scrape their knees, and suffer all sorts of little cuts and scrapes as they run and play.

That’s okay – that’s what childhood is meant to be – far too many children these days spend too much time in front of computers, than playing in the fresh outdoors.

But what isn’t okay are the tragedies befalling kids of late, because of parents that just aren’t very good parents.

Not that parenting is an easy thing to do, and no one has written a complete and comprehensive manual on how to be the perfect parent.

Deaths from unattended drowning, and driving over your own child are completely avoidable, and are the results of exceptionally poor parenting skills.

Even those of use without kids know better than to drive anywhere – in any direction – without first looking. So those with children should be ever more diligent, knowing that their kids – like all kids – will always be kids.

Any parent that backs over their child not only should have their driver’s license taken away forever, but should be charged with murder – not manslaughter, not accidental death – murder.

By failing to do what everyone knows is the right thing to do – look before you leap – they killed their own child, and should suffer the consequences.

Parents that don’t watch their kids around pools should be prohibited by law from being parents. Common sense – yes I know isn’t all that common – says that water and children spell disaster.

Kids, will always be kids. SO how come parents don’t always be parents?

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Senior Robbed of $7,000 on Deathbed a Warning Call for Medical Facilities

So much for a nation of peaceful happy people – a senior citizen was robbed on her deathbed in a Toronto, Ontario, Canada hospital.

Cops in Canada’s largest city have released security camera images of two male suspects, who allegedly stole $7,000 CDN of jewelry from an unconscious seventy-year-old woman, just before she passed away.

The patient’s family had just stepped out for break from their trying ordeal, and returned to find all of the woman’s valuables gone.

A report says the woman died as police were interviewing the family.
Of all the low life things we human beings do to one another – of which sadly there are many – this is the lowest of the low.

Robbery victims feel a deep sense of loss for their stolen possessions, but far worse is the feeling that you have been violated. Someone has come into your personal space, and taken a piece of you away. It doesn’t matter if they stole the least valuable thing in the world, the psychological impacts of having anything stolen usually are the same.

Thieves that break into a home or business and steal under the shroud of darkness are weak, petty people, not worth the oxygen they consume. But thieves that enter a hospital, intentionally looking for incapacitated, sick and in this case, dying patients, unable to defend themselves are all of the above, and more. They are sick, sadistic, scum. They are the epitome of pure evil.

What kind of monster would even contemplate such a thing?

The suspects allegedly searched floor-by-floor within the hospital, until they found the palliative care unit (the section of the hospital specializing in medical care of senior citizens), according to local authorities involved in the case.

Clearly these two individuals planned to attack the old and the sick. They just happened to get lucky in that the woman was near death – making it unlikely that she would put up a struggle. She may not have even been aware anyone was in her room rifling through her things – she was unconscious at the time of the robbery.

Where were hospital security through all of this? Why were two complete strangers not questioned as they roamed around the hospital?

In our modern societies, we expect not only to be treated for what ails us when we go to a hospital, but that in the event we are unable to take care of ourselves, the staff of the hospital will.

This level of care doesn’t extend to just medical care, but to all levels. Think about it, if you were lying unconscious in a hospital bed, unaware of your surroundings wouldn’t you expect at the very least, that those around you would take steps to protect you from harm?

Robberies of this nature are rare – thankfully most people aren’t evil as the two who pulled off this heist – but that doesn’t absolve hospital staff from protecting their patients from factors not related to their medical conditions.

Some of the largest hospitals in Canada only have two security guards on per shift. When you are talking hospitals with over 1,000 patient beds, thousands of employees and thousands of people coming and going to see their loved ones, two security guards just isn’t enough.

Yes, nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff have some responsibility in ensuring their work location is secure for them and their patients, but they are often too busy tending to the medical needs of many people – demanding that they police their work areas is unreasonable.

In much of the westernized world we hear politicians talk a lot about their solutions to bring medical care to the masses. They talk about pumping more government funds into the latest medical equipment, adding more beds, even creating more jobs for doctors and nurses.

What politicians rarely talk about is protecting us when we are at our weakest. Chances are we ‘ve all heard a politician mention more funding for healthcare, but never for providing more security within that healthcare system.

The time has come for politicians and medical practitioners to raise the bar on patient safety and security within our medical facilities. We need to know that if and when we are unable to protect ourselves from evil criminal minds, those tasked with this enormous duty will.

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Spin Doctoring Swine Flu: How the Media Could Make You Sick, Or Worse -- Die

The North American media is all buzzing about the various waves of H1N1 Swine Flu crashing through our communities.

Here in Canada, medical experts say the second wave of the constantly mutating virus has almost completed its run through the country, as reported cases are dropping.

As the numbers of serious cases declines, the media is losing their once strong headline grabber to cover. So, as the media often does, they are spinning the story to keep readers, listeners and viewers buying newspapers, listening to radio reports, and watching newscasts.

The latest spin in the media is squarely asking those who haven’t been vaccinated against H1N1 Swine Flu yet whether there is any need, as the virus isn’t infecting as many people across the country.

Fear is an excellent way to capture readers, listeners and viewers -- which is why the media loves quotes from infectious control experts, medical officers of health, and others in the medical field warning of the dangers of not getting the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine.

Then they go to the street, getting so-called “streeters” – asking people if they have been vaccinated yet against the virus. Once they find someone who hasn’t, they pounce with:

Now that the numbers of cases of H1N1 Swine Flu have gone down, is it worth getting vaccinated?

Image by Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598) / Stéphane Massa-Bidal via Flickr

That’s a leading question, which is typical of streeters. Reporters and their news directors, editors and producers are clever people. They never go to Joe Blow on the street, unless they know what they want to hear.

The question above is leading the person asked towards a “no” giving them the logical conclusion that it isn’t worth getting vaccinated, because the number of cases has gone down.

Sure, you’ll get people saying anything, but ask enough strangers on the street a leading question which hints at the answer, and it won’t be long before you get that sound bite or pull quote you’ve been longing to hear.

Some might argue that the media is just doing what they are supposed to do – be balanced and fair, by providing all sides to a story.

However, what the media is ignoring is their impact on the public good.

Whenever a pandemic has hit, medical experts after-the-fact have told us that if only we had a way of vaccinating people against the pandemic before it hit, the death toll wouldn’t be as high.

Hello?

Here we have a rare opportunity, to vaccinate entire continents from a highly contagious, constantly mutating killer virus, and the news media is asking leading questions prompting people to say they don’t think it necessary to get the vaccine?

Doesn’t that smell a wee bit foul to you – or am I the only one sniffing the stink of a news media gone awry?

Sure, writing stories about how it is important to get vaccinated are biased – but when Liberal or Conservative news outlets cover candidates during an election, do you honestly think they are any less biased in their reporting of who they want to win and who they want to lose?

But the difference here isn’t which candidate gets into office, but whether or not huge numbers of people live or die.

The bubonic plague ravaged Europe in the 1400s, virtually eliminating the human race from that continent. This plague – often called the “Black Plague” or “the Great Plague” crossed continents, spreading across North America, killing thousands globally up until being wiped out by the 1900’s.

Image via Wikipedia

Vaccines have eliminated massive deaths to virus and diseases such as the Great Plague in modern times, such as the vaccine for regular flu.

Yes, much of the hype about the H1N1 Swine Flu is just that – hype. The numbers of those getting seriously sick, or dying from H1N1 Swine Flu in most of North America aren’t really that much different from incidents of serious illness or death from the regular flu.

But for years humanity has had vaccines for the regular flu – not so for the newer H1N1 Swine Flu, which first surfaced in Mexico earlier this year.

The media does the responsible thing during flu season, and promote the benefits of getting the annual flu shot for the regular flu. There’s no question about it – the more people vaccinated, the low

Image by ghinson via Flickr

er the number of infections. This has been proven time and time again since governments worldwide have been making the regular flu vaccine available to their citizens.

H1N1 Swine Flu isn’t that much different from the regular flu – it just caught us off guard, and prompted the scientific alarm bells to scream “pandemic” as they should.

When the deadly virus was first discovered, scientists didn’t know about it, so they hadn’t any way to prevent it from killing off the human race.
But now, thanks to many of those same scientists, we now have a way to save ourselves, and in so doing, our race.

But our news media, more interested in their bottom lines than the greater good, is still hyping H1N1 Swine Flu as the next great plague, causing hysteria, confusion and worse in some cases – inaction.

By confusing people as to the real nature of H1N1 Swine Flu, the media is clouding the issues, causing people to delay or even to abstain from getting the latest flu-type vaccine.

And that could prove to be more harmful for humanity, as those who do not get vaccinated, put themselves – and those around them – at grave risk.

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The Dire Pleas of Missed Connections

Did something I rarely do – read the “Missed Connections” section in one of those tabloid free daily papers the other day.

Had a good chuckle, wondered what kind of person would actually write these things, and how much the paper was making by charging these characters for providing the service – assuming they do.

“Missed Connections” sections are springing up in the “Classified” sections of newspapers and online sites all over the world. Essentially, people write about others they encountered during their daily journeys, but for whatever reason didn’t get a way to reconnect with that person – no

Image via Wikipedia

phone number, not even an email address to write too. They write in, hoping the exact same person they made eye contact with, or happened to talk to about the weather, reads the very same section of the very same paper or online site, and reaches out to the author.

They read like desperate attempts by stalkers trying to lure victims into their web of psycho-babble. That’s harsh – but if you strike up a conversation with a total stranger on the bus, in the park, or anywhere else, wouldn’t it make more sense to ask that person for their name and number or business card at that point in time? It certainly makes more sense than putting any chance of further meeting into the complete randomness of a “Missed Connection” in a publication which may be read by thousands – but never by the very person you want to read it.

A “Missed Connection” reads something like this:

You were walking your pet poodle through the park. We started talking, sat on the benches by the big oak tree and talked about dogs, work and cooking. I was wearing a green sweater and blue jeans, you wore a neon pink top and hat and bright red shoes. Wanted to ask you out, but too shy, dinner? Call me at . . .

Rejection is one of the hardest things to overcome – I was shy once, I ought know. But if you feel that connection upon meeting someone new, the time is in the here and the now, not the later.

It is like that saying, never cry over spilled milk – it doesn’t make any sense dwelling on the past. Next time you’ll know to make your move. In the here and now, get on with your life.

Apparently though, these “Missed Connections” work. There have been stories about people who met in the park, chatted up a storm, and then went their separate ways. But then they reconnect after one person posts a “Missed Connection,” the responds, and now they are happily married. Speak of target marketing.

Though with all the nuts placing these ads, and all the more nuts responding, makes you wonder just how many of those people who respond are really the person who the ad was meant for? And if the person who wrote the ad even cares – if the shoe fits, wear it – maybe they’ll take

Image by Stitch via Flickr

someone who is close to their intended person?

You have to be pretty desperate to take out any form of personals ad, especially in this high-tech world, where all you need is a computer and an Internet connection to instantly chat with millions of other people, just as lonely and desperate for some company.

That raises the question of safety too – desperate times call for desperate measures. Just how well can you trust a complete stranger who posts one of these ads?

Not everyone who posts a “Missed Connection” is crazy, but how do you really know the person you are calling isn’t one of the few who is?

Though without some risk taking, none of us would ever really meet in life – we’d all be too afraid to leap out of our own universes.

But if a person is desperate enough to take out an ad in a newspaper or online, begging for you to contact them, is that someone a sweet and romantic-type of person, or a stalking crazy psychopath to be avoided?

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It Isn’t H1N1 Swine Flu – But Just As Deadly

The other day I was chomping on some Timbits (mini donuts from famed Canadian donut franchise Tim Horton’s) in a very public space – a food court.

I was enjoying my moment of relaxation, albeit one which is fattening and probably none to healthy.

Then I just happened to swallow the wrong way, and I began choking on one of the mini-pastries. I was hacking and coughing very lou

dly.

You’d expect in a civilized society, some of the many people in the area would come over to see if I was alright. Instead, everyone scattered – running away as if I was infected with some deadly virus.

That’s probably what they thought – that I was coughing due to some flu – or worse, THE flu – the H1N1 Swine Flu.

Never mind that I couldn’t breathe, with the Timbit lodged halfway down my throat, as I turned various shades of blue. It’s everyone for themselves.

Luckily, I was able to dislodge the troubled piece of food, and after a few moments, I had caught my breath and was back to normal. I even managed to have some more Timbits.

Though I was troubled with the reaction of those around me – had I not been able to get the food out of my throat, eventually I would have died.

Though I admit, it was far from a near death experience. Most of us have c

Image via Wikipedia

hoked on something or another throughout our lives, and most of us live to eat another meal.

But in those rare circumstances, where something really gets horribly stuck in someone’s windpipe, you hope there is someone around that not only knows the Heimlich maneuver, but is also willing to stop and assist.

Thanks to the media hype over the pandemic flu spreading across the globe, there is understandably quite a bit of concern with avoiding its deadly grasp.

Most of the symptoms of the H1N1 flu aren’t visible – other than the cough, running nose, sneezing, and perhaps the lethargic movement of someone who is suffering from it.

You can’t see a fever, sore throat, muscle aches, or upset stomach (unless the person loses their lunch). So the typical signs someone may be sick – such as coughing – are just enough to warn others to stay away.

Again, very understandable, but also a failing of society because it shows we are a bunch of individuals, rather than caring creatures that sees someone suffering, and feels compelled to offer some sort of help.

Image via Wikipedia

If I were walking across the street and suddenly hit by an oncoming car, most likely others would stop to assist. It is pretty hard to ignore a person, lying across the roadway.

Though there are risks to others associated with this as well. Those offering assistance could be hit by another car that doesn’t see us, or they could get blood or other bodily fluid on themselves, and become contaminated with a virus (like H1N1) or some other disease (if I were sick).

I suppose if I had passed out in the food court from choking, then a crowd would gather, and someone may have stepped up to the plate to help.

Then again, maybe not.

You go through his wallet; I’ll take his shoes . . .

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Canada’s Swine Flu Fiasco

What’s wrong with healthcare these days?

The news media – seriously!

No wonder American’s against U.S. President Barack Obama’s creation of a publicly accessible, universal, government-run healthcare system point to Canada when they make their outrageous claims.

With all the hype in the Canadian news media (and probably the American and other international news outfits), people are rushing free H1N1 Swine Flu shot clinics, as well as the regular flu clinics. At some clinics in Ontario, which just opened yesterday, the line-ups are estimated to

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

be over four-hours long! Some people even camped out hours before the healthcare workers arrived to open the clinic.

Americans see these long line-ups, and hear the horror stories about the goofballs turned away from the flu shot clinic – the free flu shot clinic was for high-risk senior citizens only, and the man turned away on the news clearly wasn’t over 65 – judging from his behavior he may have a long way to go before hitting puberty!

No wonder Americans think the Canadian healthcare system is worse than their system – even though America is the only industrialized nation on the

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

planet that does NOT have some form of universal healthcare for its citizens.

Although the Canadian healthcare system is far from perfect – it is far better than most. The biggest problem with our Canadian healthcare system isn’t the nurses, doctors and other practitioners working long hours – some as long as 12-hour shifts – the problem is government mismanagement from the earliest stages of a project.

The reason the line-ups for the H1N1 Swine Flu are so long and why they have limited the regular flu shot to just those in high risk groups is because they were slow to get off their over-paid butts and plan ahead.

Canada is one of the last of the industrialized nations to begin a vaccination program for the H1N1 Swine Flu, and the regular flu shot.

Ever since I can remember – at least the past decade – I’ve always got my free flu shot in late September, usually the last week of September to be exact.

This year, the regular flu vaccine wasn’t available until this week and we’re almost into November. Rumors were circulating about the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine not being available here until November 2 – they opened up some clinics ahead of schedule.

The H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine has been available for almost a month in most of Europe – so how come Canada took so long?

Even in the only country on the planet without a government-run universal healthcare system – The States, the H1N1 Vaccine has been out well ahead of Canada’s inoculation campaign.

The federal government in Canada dropped the ball big time on this one. Yes, they did their due diligence to make sure it was safe for public consumption, but they jeopardized that public’s health and well being, by not having planned for the implementation of these vaccines.

Because of these delays, people are becoming infected with H1N1 Swine Flu, and in some instances ending up in the hospital for severe illness.

School boards in Ontario are reporting as many as 10 percent of their pupils absent due to the flu – which flu that is, and whether or not they are legitimately sick hasn’t been verified.

Though the media hype is focusing on the few teenagers who have died from the illness, which is understandable, as it is rare for healthy kids to die from the flu.
Last week, a 15-year-old passed away from complications from H1N1 Swine Flu, and this week a 13-year-old has died from the virus.

As the news media focuses on these deaths, and interview teary-eyed parents mourning the passing of their kids, parents scramble with their kids in tow. The country’s largest children’s hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children in To

ronto had to call nurses in from other floors and some who were not scheduled to work, just to handle the flood of parents and children storming their hospital, hoping to get their kids vaccinated. The children’s hospital in the nation’s capital, Ottawa, also reportedly had to call in reinforcements to deal with an onslaught of parents and their kids.

The problem medical experts are telling us, is that children haven’t fought off as many flu attacks as older people, so they don’t have as strong anti-bodies as those of us who have gone through the flu several times.

This is also a case to encourage parents to stop giving into antibiotics for every cold their kids get – sure they get better faster, but they don’t have the opportunity to develop their own resistance and their immune systems do not develop their full potential.

When the media isn’t focusing on young people dying from the H1N1 Swine Flu, they swamp us with stories about gigantic crowds of people, waiting hours for their free H1N1 Swine Flu shot, making those of us who haven’t yet had time to take off work to go and get the shot, wonder if we will even be able to get it?
Who can take off four-hours from work?

At one H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination clinic, people were lined up around the outside of the building and for several blocks, some claiming to have been in line for over four-hours.

There are always line-ups at flu shot clinics – but these excessively long ones need not have happened in the first place.

Thank your federal government Canada, for mismanaging the seasonal and H1N1 flu clinics to the point of disarray.

There is no reason why one of the most prosperous industrialized nations, with one of the best healthcare systems on Earth has people lining the streets for hours, waiting for a flu shot.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Infections Rising in North America

It just had to happen – or at least that’s what medical experts have been predicting for some time. Another round of H1N1 Swine Flu is going around North America – and possibly the world.

Just yesterday, about 140 students in a Milwaukee, USA school were sent home and the school was closed, because most of the students, and some of the staff were suffering with symptoms of the dreaded bug. Several schools in the area have closed down, some with confirmed cases of the H1N1 Swine Flu, and in some of those instances, some children have been hospitalized with the H1N1 Swine Flu virus.

Local medical officers of health have publicly said that they believe all the infections are H1N1 Swine Flu, as they haven’t seen any outbreaks of other less severe flues in the area. They have collected samples and are running lab tests prior to confirming each infected site, but are leaning towards the H1N1 strain of flu.

Also yesterday, American Congressman Greg Walden (Republican) confirmed earlier reports that he has been diagnosed with the H1N1 Swine Flu. Walden sent a one-line message (commonly called a “tweet”) on the

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

online micro blogging site Twitter.com this past Monday saying he had just arrived home from the doctor’s office with the diagnoses, and that he was going into “seclusion for a while.”

Hitting closer to home, here in Ontario Canada, a turkey farm was quarantined after it became clear the turkeys were infected with the H1N1 Swine Flu.

This is of particular concern, as the virus can further mutate inside a turkey, and then re-infect a person, creating a monster combination Swine/Turkey variant of the virus, which may be even harder for human beings to overcome.

Medical experts across the globe have been predicting a rise in the H1N1 Swine Flu – many suggesting the winter holiday season around Christmas and New Year’s as the timeframe. But it appears Christmas has come early for the virus, as it is making a comeback now.

Some are even going so bold as to not shake another person’s hands, for fear of catching the virus. Although proper hand washing techniques can shave off most colds and flu, it’ll take a lot more than avoiding a handshake to prevent catching the virus.

When a pandemic strikes, everything and everyone is a potential threat – even from the most innocuous everyday things.

Forgot to bring lunch to the office? Not an uncommon occurrence, so you figure you’ll do what many (including myself) do in times of hunger – go out for lunch.
Problem is, no matter how well you wash your hands, if the people prep

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

aring or serving you your food are infected with the H1N1 Swine Flu, then you stand a greater chance of coming down with the virus too. And in low paying (often minimum wage) jobs such as in food services industries, people will often work regardless of how sick they are, because they need the money.

The same is true for another part of our food supply chain – grocery stores. Those apples may look perfect shining under the grocery store lights, but if the store employee who put them on the shelf in the first place was sick with the H1N1 Swine Flu, guess what? Yes, you too can catch the flu.

That’s the whole nature of a pandemic – it is when a disease spreads so easily from person to person, no matter how many precautions are taken, the odds are greater that most will eventually contract the illness.

You can minimize the impact of the illness if and when you do catch it. That’s what the flu shot is for, and it doesn’t hurt to take multivitamins to strengthen your immune system, and help you fight off colds and flu faster.

So the lesson here is simple – wash your hands, lock your doors and windows – or wait that’s advice for something else.

Wash your hands often, sneeze and cough into your sleeve (not your hands) to avoid spreading germs and get your flu and H1N1 Swine Flu shots when they become available in your area.

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Canada Mangles H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccinations – Threatens World Order

How are you battling the spread of the common flu and the ever feared H1N1 Swine flu?

Chances are, you’ll be able to get an H1N1 Swine Flu shot and (in most cases) a regular flu shot if you live in an industrialized country such as Canada or the United States of America.

For most in these industrialized countries, they have already received their flu vaccinations – not so if you live here in Canada.

The Canadian government mis-managed testing and distribution of the

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H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine – so much so, it has delayed it well beyond what most medical experts consider the safe window of opportunity.

Usually here in Canada, provincial governments freely vaccinate residents starting in early October for the common flu virus. Thanks to Canada’s federal health agency taking its time with the testing of the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine, the common flu vaccine may not be available until well into the flu season – which could create a major national outbreak of the nasty bug.

Or far worse, the killer H1N1 Swine Flu could spread across Canada faster than ants to honey, creating a very devastating and possibly dangerous pandemic. Just last week, a 15-year-old boy in northern Ontario, Canada died from the H1N1 Swine Flu.

There have been numerous infections of the H1N1 Swine Flu in Canada, though for the most part, they haven’t been fatal.

Though scientists are predicting the now quiet pandemic in North America will see a rocket-like rise in cases late in December and January, partly due to the increased amount of travel caused by the seasonal holidays.

But will Canadians be ready to fight both flu bugs when they hit their peak? Will we see people wearing surgical masks, and covering their face with tissues (which doesn’t work) to prevent catching these bugs, as they did in some major city centers during the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak years ago?

Will people be civil despite the monster line-ups expected for the free flu vaccination clinics? In the past, you could go to your doctor to get your free flu shot, and you still can. But to get the new H1N1 Swine Flu shot, you have to go to a government-run clinic – these are only available from the government.

Confused?

That’s another part of the constantly compounding problem – all three l

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evels of government have managed to work together to bring us our flu shots, but they haven’t done a very good job of communicating these combined efforts to the public.

Most don’t know that this year, instead of getting just one flu shot, you need at least two – maybe three depending on your age and overall health.

Generally, Canadians will be eligible for two free flu shots – one for the common flu, the other for the H1N1 Swine flu. For children, the elderly and people with certain medical conditions, you may need a third shot, a booster H1N1 Swine Flu shot.

The common flu shot is still available through most family doctors, but the H1N1 Swine Flu shot is generally only available from government-run H1N1 flu clinics.

In some provinces, the federal government will be running these government-run flu vaccination clinics, in others the provincial health ministry will run the show, while in others it will be the local municipal government’s health department.

This makes the whole ordeal just that – and it doesn’t end there.

Because old habits die hard, and most of us are used to getting our annual flu shot by now, the late start to these vaccination clinics is expected to drive people in great numbers to these government-run clinics. Meaning the line-ups will not only be long, but possibly uncivil.

Imagine being taken to the hospital, because a riot breaks out during a flu vaccination session at one of these clinics?

Well, at least the hospital will be able to give you your shots, while they repair the damage caused at the mis-managed government-run H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination clinic.

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Canadian Study Claims Flu Shot Increases Chances of Contracting H1N1 Swine Flu

For many in Canada and around the world, it is an annual fall tradition – rolling up your sleeve for the once-a-year flu shot.

Medical experts for years have been telling us these shots are good for everyone, as they really do help keep society safe from the flu, by reducing contamination rates.

This may change, if an unpublished Canadian study proves to be true. The series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario says that those who got a seasonal flu shot last year are almost twice as likely to catch H1N1 Swine Flu when compared to those who have not had the annual vaccination.

The study’s lead writer’s have submitted a scientific paper to a medical journal, but won’t comment on it until it has been reviewed by other medical experts.

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Traditionally, medical journals prohibit researchers from discussing their unpublished work, prior to it being reviewed and published.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned that this unpublished study will deter people from getting their annual flu shot, and is encouraging its member countries to promote and provide both seasonal and H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic flu shots.

News of the unpublished study isn’t new – the Public Health Agency of Canada knew of this study some time ago and has been keeping a low profile while it tries to determine the validity of the research.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control also knew of the unpublished study, and has dismissed it due to lack of similar evidence in the States.

Whether the study is accurate or flawed remains the question for medical experts – but the immediate concern remains: should I or shouldn’t I get a flu shot this year?

Flu shots aren’t golden tickets promising those who get them a flu-free season. Every year, microbiologists, virologists and other scientists work together to crack the flu vaccine secret code for the following flu season. Their research is based on the trends going on around the world with the current flu variants, and the seriousness of those infections.

The flu virus is usually made to counter the effects of three strains of the flu – and these three strains are the ones those medical miracle workers believe are the most likely ones to harm the public.

That’s why the flu vaccine may differ in results from year-to-year. Usually the brains behind the vaccine are pretty accurate, but just two years ago they admitted defeat, as they publicly stated that they had predicted the wrong variants, and so the flu shot didn’t do as much good as it could have.

But with this new unpublished study making the rounds of medical experts desk’s the question isn’t if the annual seasonal flu shot will work, but rather, will it make you more likely to catch the deadly H1N1 Swine Flu?

And that’s the question I’d like to know the answer too.

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