The Official Medtipster Blog

Swine Flu for Dummies

With the H1N1 vaccine supply growing, many are still unsure whether or not to be vaccinated.

I have read article after article about pros and cons of receiving the H1N1 Vaccine. Some are waiting in line, scurrying around town, calling and checking daily for the status of the local availability, and some simply don’t want it at all. Regardless of your opinion of action, it’s important to know the facts!

Let’s say, every year for Thanksgiving, my Aunt Judy makes sugar cookies. Every year she adds a yummy topping in the form of the most popular candy that year, like a reese’s peanut butter cup, or mini-snickers. But, this year, there are two candies that are the most popular, M&M’s and gumdrops. So, she made two batches of sugar cookies, one with M&M’s and the other with gumdrops!

That’s a simple analogy to understand what the H1N1 strain is really all about. You see, every year, the vaccine is administered according to what the experts are predicting will infect the population. That particular “strain” is similar to the sugar cookie’s topping, it changes from year to year. This year, however, there are two types of strains predicted to spread, the seasonal flu (we’ll call that the gumdrop sugar cookie) and the H1N1 flu (the M&M sugar cookie).

Medtipster.com is dedicated to bringing you the latest on the availability of both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations, as well as key information for you and your family. We are working hard to make sure our database is second to NONE (we mean that!). We know there are other internet sources of H1N1 vaccine locators, and we are thrilled to know that these sources are working just as hard as we are to keep the public informed. However, upon comparison, our database is up to date, accurate, and contains address, phone number, map location, pricing and even notes from the administering clinic.

Now, if all I’ve done here is strengthen your sweet tooth, there are great resources that will explain the details of the H1N1 virus, how to protect yourself from becoming infected, the symptoms of the illness, etc. I’ve listed some great resources below.

H1N1 Response Center by Microsoft: https://h1n1.cloudapp.net/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

The Lancet: http://www.thelancet.com/H1N1-flu

WWJ Newsradio 950 – Michigan: http://www.wwj.com/pages/5367286.php

PS- Happy Friday the 13^th!

Tylar Masters
Manager of Marketing and Communications
Medtipster, LLC.
email: tmasters@medtipster.com
web address: www.medtipster.com