Thanks for All the Help, CDC

I am posting this because it is helpful information most people don’t know about: reputable online sources say people who have not had recent flu shots are something like 3 times as likely to have severe coronavirus cases. For some reason, the flu shot is reducing the severity of coronavirus problems for many people.

I learned this on my own. It just popped up while I was Googling around.

I have slacked about getting flu shots for about 5 years, but I have an appointment on Tuesday. I just made it.

I also scheduled a pneumonia shot. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common bacterium that causes bacterial pneumonia in coronavirus patients. It’s not unusual to have both diseases at once. The web says there is evidence that the first pneumonia vaccine people are instructed to get (there are two) appears to reduce the severity of coronavirus attacks.

Other sources say things like varicella, the chickenpox virus, can cause pneumonia in coronavirus patients. Maybe I should see about a vaccine. I had chickenpox when I was a kid, and I’m sure I’ve been vaccinated on top of that, but varicella also causes shingles, and the web says chickenpox will not give you immunity to shingles. I have no idea whether the shingles vaccine prevents varicella pneumonia, but I don’t want shingles. A cousin of mine had it, and it was so painful, he couldn’t stand to wear clothes and decided to wander around his house naked.

I don’t know why our keepers aren’t telling us these things. It’s not tinfoil-hat nonsense. It’s coming from real researchers.