Frank Cotolo
September 25, 2009

 

It's that time of the year, flu season, when the flu bug is flying fast through the air and into the lungs of people everywhere. The flu knows no boundaries. You can catch it almost anywhere on earth and, if you recall the movie Apollo 13, you will recall one of the astronauts caught it in a space capsule.

 

One way to battle getting the flu is to get a flu shot, which is the flu itself. Lots of people do not understand this but we at Cotolo Chronicles do understand this and want to inform those who don't know this so that they can get a flu shot and be healthy. After all, having the flu can stop a person from work and play - two things we all need to do the most, though not necessarily in that order.

 

When you get a flu shot you are having the flu germ injected into you. Or sprayed into your nose. Spraying into the ears does not work, so the nose is used. If it is injected with a needle, they never inject it into a nose. That is just stupid. And it hurts more than injecting it into your blood stream.

 

The flu bug goes into the body and the normal body immediately attacks it, recognizing it as a foreign substance. The body begins to create what are called "antibodies". These antibodies began to resist the flu bug. The body creates thousands, maybe millions, of antibodies, specifically to battle the flu bug. Many of these antibodies die along the way and I have no idea what happens to their remains. I guess the body places them somewhere. Maybe we urinate them away; I don't know. It is not that important because the antibodies that stay alive keep the flu bug from spreading around.

 

Once contained, you can be exposed to the flu bug and not get it, since you already have it. You can go on with your life, working and playing and feeling fit, fine and fabulous.

 

It is recommended that you go to wherever flu shots are distributed and get yourself one. As for the Swine Flu, that new thing going around, you may need to get a special shot for that one. So this year you need two flu shots, unless your doctor doesn't recommend you get any or either.

 

By the way, it is important you understand that even with a flu shot you can get the flu. But it could be a mild case. If it isn't a mild case, then I would ask for a refund on the flu shot. If your flu shot was free, ask for something else from the office of the distributors. Perhaps get some free cotton swabs or some of those fun gloves that surgeons wear.