Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Day 201 - Government Flu

The government has announced that flu is bad for pregnant women and their babies.

It's extremely tempting to dismiss this as something of a 'no shit, Sherlock' announcement, apart from the fact that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is to recommend women get the jab in their second and third trimesters for free. Quite how they'll manage this considering that every year they run out, isn't quite clear, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose.

With uncommonly good timing (and that's not sarcastic in case anyone thinks I'm being cynical) a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggested flu (and pneumonia or STDs) during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of leukaemia in a child later in life. However, the study is small, and its findings may not be replicated in a larger study.

Anyway, the upshot is that flu sucks (beyond the obvious Dyson-suckiness of flu). So, get your shots. Unless you're like K___ and you're allergic.

Arse. Better not get the flu, baby!

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