Health minister down with flu

All my friends with flu shot get the flu and those not, don't. The flu shot has mercury in it which causes problems with the brain.

Perhaps the health minister, like many Japanese ojisans, failed to wash his hands after using the toilet

reckless, what does norovirus smell like?

@Open Minded - the flus shot in Japan is only one dose. It is theoretically possible that another vaccine for a new strain could be introduced in the same season, but that doesn't happen often.

OK, I understand the irony of it, but is this really newsworthy?????

I got my flu shot. When you work in manufacturing everybody brings everything to work. But I love the irony.

On the other hand, I usually feel sick after budget meetings too....

The flu shot is not for oneself but for the most vulnerable around us, like babies, elderly, …

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/dont-be-selfish-get-flu-shot-protect-most-vulnerable-bioethicist-1B7944163

Wait, nobody made a joke about "TamiFlu" yet :-)

For the ones who selfishly think only about them re flu shot.

An epidemic is by definition a social thing. If a mean (shot) reduce the incidence, even by only 50% on an individual, it will curb down significantly the epidemic. Thus at the end of the day the total impact on the total population will be much higher and the peak might happen much later or at the very end of the flu season.

Flu shot is a social responsibility first!

But I must admit that having it in Japan is complicated and requires multi-injection, while when I was in Canada it was organized by and at the company with one shot. Done!

HEALTH minister in flu? Hahahaha.

You have to admit that the title of the report is funny for his Flu shot either did not work or it gave him the Flu :)

Last time I recieved one I ended up in hospital for 61 days.

Well, I did get the flu vaccine in November, and today was diagnosed with influenza A. Guess I wasted my money this year!

From CDC:

" Overall, the vaccine's effectiveness for everyone older than 6 months was 56%, just slightly lower than the 62% that had been estimated earlier in the season. This season's vaccine contains protection against three flu strains: H3N2, influenza B and H1N1. The vaccine was 67% effective against influenza B in adults over 65 but only 9% effective against H3N2, the most prevalent strain this season, the CDC found. There were not enough H1N1 to tell its effectiveness.

When broken into age groups, the vaccine's overall effectiveness against H3N2 flu was:

6 months to 17 years, 58%.

18 to 49 years, 46%.

50 to 64 years, 50%.

65 and older, 9%."

So, maybe 50%. I haven't had a flu shot in over 20 years, nor have I had the flu.

Health Minister Norihisa Tamura missed the Diet session on Tuesday due to having the flu.

He might be vitamin D deficient. Several studies have shown that high levels of vitamin D may prevent or lower the risk of influenza. Vitamin D may also reduce symptoms of influenza and reduce the risk of developing pneumonia following influenza.

In a study of Japanese schoolchildren, vitamin D supplements taken during the winter and early spring helped prevent seasonal flu and asthma attacks. ... The vitamin D group was 58 percent less likely to catch influenza A, the researchers report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

See Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20219962?dopt=Citation

Flu shots don't work! Over 50% of recipients still get the flu. Wash your hands and keep your fingers out of your eyes!

@Reaper

Believe me, if you can lie in bed 'for a couple of days' and then recover, that isn't flu.

Flu will knock the healthiest athlete in the world out for at least ten days. It's not like a heavy cold, not for a minute.

Evidently the flu vaccine is ineffective.

I never understood Japans scare of the flu. Friends of mine who had the flu in Japan were sent to the hospital to get medicine. Here in my country you either suck it up and continue onward, or if it is real bad, lay in bed for a couple of days until it has passed. If I were to go to my doctor with the flu she would first look at me wondering why I am even there and then tell me to just ride it out. Hell, I've had the Mexican flu (that murderous thing), just slept it off with a few pills against the fever, since 41 degrees celsius is a bit much...

The common flu is hardly a threat but in Japan it is treated as extremely severe. Can anyone provide me with a clear reason for this?

/laugh

I wonder when people will start to realise that you should just stay at home when you are ill? Putting a mask on and dragging your carcase into work doesn't prove you are a good worker. It just makes you a vector of disease.

Flu vaccines do work, just not completely effective. On average they reduce the chance you will contract flu by about 45%. If I had to ride the subway every day I'd get one because lower chances are better than near 100%. I've had the shot for the last 25 years and never had the flu, or any "immune-compromised" symptoms. And that proves... nothing, just as NOT getting the shot and not getting flu proves nothing. OK, blast away with those Bads.

wipeout ... well the health minister got the flu jab and he was very ill too....

... bet he still goes to work tomorrow though. And infects the whole lot of them.

Flu vaccines don't work. They compromise a healthy immune system.

Im pretty sceptical of the flu vaccine, with the exception of pregnant women or those with compromised immune systems. I have never had a flu vaccine, and also never had the flu. As have all my family. All the people I have ever met who have had the flu have all been vaccinated.

I wonder if some people are more susceptible to it than others?

How ironic

Health minister down with flu - The irony of it !

this guy smelling of vomit and norovirus was literally smashed face to face with me

The norovirus has a smell ???

Do we known if it was "J-bird flu"?