[2021-10-21] Flu shot, history and Joni Mitchell
I've received a lot of vaccines this year. Since January, I've had shots against COVID-19 (three doses), shingles, pneumonia and influenza.
Flu shot
Today was the flu shot, which I was able to get through my doctor's office because of my compromised health.
I believe in being proactive, and I'm prepared to put up with some small discomfort to reduce the risk of a much bigger pain if I were to contract an illness that could have been prevented or mitigated through a vaccine. I've been getting the flu shot annually ever since I caught a nasty bout of influenza about a decade ago that landed me in bed for an entire week.
As a cancer survivor, taking a powerful drug that may lower my white blood cell count, I'm taking no chances. Even last year, when I was in the midst of chemotherapy, I got a flu shot—coincidentally, a year ago yesterday. On the advice of my oncology team, I timed it to when my immune system was strongest.
History
Writing this post reminded me of an article I wrote a few years ago about the circumstances that led to the creation of Canada’s first federal organization focused on health. In 1918, Canada was a young nation coming to terms with the devastating impacts of the First World War and facing its first major health crisis. As the country welcomed home returning soldiers—many of whom were suffering from disabilities, trauma and illness—it was also grappling with another health crisis: the Spanish Flu. This flu would go on to kill some 50,000 Canadians, almost as many as the 60,000 Canadians who died during the First World War. The epidemic was a catalyst for the creation of the Department of Health in 1919 with a mandate to address "all matters and questions relating to the promotion of health and social welfare of the people of Canada." The Department of Health was the forerunner to Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, two organizations I had the privilege of serving between 2016 and 2020.
Tonight's post also reminded me of a visit I made to the Museum of Health Care at Kingston in July 2018. I was fascinated by the museum's exhibit on four diseases that were eradicated or whose incidence was greatly reduced as a result of vaccines: polio, diphtheria, smallpox and pertussis (aka whooping cough). The drop in peak cases from before the introduction of vaccines to after is astounding: at their peak, polio dropped from 1,584 cases annually to 0; diphtheria, from 9,010 cases annually to 4; smallpox, from 3,300 cases annually to 0, and pertussis, from 19,878 cases annually to 1,967.
While the Museum is currently closed because of COVID, it has created an online exhibit called Vaccines and Immunization: Epidemics, Prevention and Canadian Innovation. Its introduction states:
Vaccines and immunizations are clear success stories. Yet, because vaccines are so successful at preventing disease, the public often takes them for granted. Vaccines are not perfect, but their importance becomes unmistakable when the history of infectious diseases and the development of vaccines designed to prevent them are explored together.
It goes on to describe the goals of the online exhibit:
The primary goals are to look back on the unique Canadian experience with these diseases and their personal impact before the vaccines became available, focus the spotlight on the major role Canadian scientists played in their development, production and use, and underscore their public health importance in preventing, controlling or eradicating these diseases.
Joni Mitchell
Curious, I clicked on the Polio tab and learned that Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were among the tens of thousands of children afflicted by the disease. Joni Mitchell said that polio made her stubborn, and is quoted in the online exhibit as follows:
The polio ward is a really depressing place and you hear the whining of the iron lungs, a bunch of them going away, and you're just praying that you don't go into one. The disease only rampages for two weeks and then you're left with the disaster. I was unable to walk or stand. I was train-wrecked. My spine looked like the freeway after an earthquake…. My mom put up a Christmas tree in my room and I remember saying to the tree "I am not a cripple." They would come with cauldrons of hot flannel rags and pin them all over you—the heat was meant to do something to the muscles. In a very short space of time, I unfurled. They sent me home in a wheelchair, but I refused to use it.
On the Polio page, I watched a riveting video, demonstrating how the iron lung was used. I snapped the photo below of such a device on my July 2018 trip to the Museum—a trip I hope to repeat when the Museum is open once again.
