Of course! Everybody should stay on top of annual flu shots and COVID boosters - and RSV if you are eligible - and don’t forget about routine or travel immunizations, either. Tdap for example only lasts 10 years. In my lifetime, we’ve also had new vaccines for HPV, RSV, malaria, and chicken pox/shingles, which is amazing. Vaccines are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to take care of yourself and the people around you.

Okay, re: any cross-protection from vaccines, the answer is again likely no. For years people have been working on a “universal vaccine” so we wouldn’t have to do annual shots. There is currently work being done with the mRNA technology that came out of COVID, as well as universal HA targets. But we are, for the moment, still stuck with traditional flu vaccines.

Our current flu vaccines work by stimulating the production of antibodies targeting two surface proteins of the flu virus, HA and NA. These control viral attachment/fusion and release, respectively, which are important for viral infection and replication. When we think about vaccine effectiveness studies we want to see those HA and NA titres high because they are linked with protection.

The human vs avian strains of influenza behave differently when it comes to these proteins. HA proteins of human-to-human strains recognize α(2,6)-linked sialic acid, while avian strains use α(2,3)-linked sialic acid. Not every species has tissues with both of these sialic acid receptors. Some do - like pigs, quails, and turkeys - which is where we see viruses start to shift and cause problems for humans. So, mutations in those HA proteins in avian influenza is what decides whether they can reproduce in humans.

In other words - our current swine flu “H1” vaccine is unable to target any avian flu “H1” protein, and that’s actually a good thing! It means that the strains are well and truly separate, and avian influenzas cannot readily reproduce in humans without additional mutation. If and when we start to see human-to-human transmission of H5, then we can look at that strain’s protein structures and determine appropriate targets for vaccination.

This is a question for your doctor, so I am not providing any medical advice. Typically whether from infection or vaccination, we expect to see protective antibodies for several months.

It’s one patient and these rapid changes happened before in human patients, so who knows. All other H5 outbreaks to date have been limited and sporadic. We’d need more genomic data from more human cases. They are also going to monitor these cases closely so we’ll find out more as we go.

You’re welcome!

I knew this question would come up and unfortunately (or fortunately) I’m not an immunology PhD 😅 of course it’s always recommended to get flu shots due to partial coverage, reducing coinfections, and sparing health systems undue burden but let me see if I can get you a proper answer from someone who dreams about proteins and titers.

The former! I’m not currently worried about contracting it, and neither should anyone who isn’t hanging out on an animal farm. That said, of course flu and other viruses can jump species, and flu mutates a lot faster than some other viruses. There is never any way to rule out a wild flu mutating into something that can impact human health more broadly.

To your second point about goalposts moving - I’m not sure specifically what you’re referencing, but perceived risk is inherently personal and can never be a one-size-fits-all calculation. We might have a tidy risk ratio in a paper that pertains to a certain population, but it doesn’t always translate to the general public. Typically we leave that stuff to CDC, because they have whole committees full of brilliant people to synthesize the evidence and argue about what to tell the public and how. Science changes and so do recommendations as we learn more. I would recommend getting further H5 “news” and updates directly from CDC. You can sign up for the MMWR which will have weekly stats and case details.

Former influenza epidemiologist here and the answer is probably not. Our current influenza vaccines in the US (and in almost all countries) are trivalent, meaning they have 3 strains: an influenza A H1N1 (aka swine flu), an influenza A H3N2, and an influenza B (Victoria). Fun fact, they used to include 4 strains, but COVID actually wiped out the second B strain and it hasn’t been detected since 2020.

Unfortunately, the current bird flu is H5, a separate influenza A strain. Typically there isn’t a lot of shared clinical protection overlap between genomes this different. This is why influenza vaccines typically use 3 (and formerly 4) different strains of the virus, to confer the most protection.

However, unless you work in dairy or poultry, I would not worry. I am not particularly worried. I know it’s making headlines, but only 66 human cases are in the US so far, and all but 2 had direct contact with those animals. Currently there is no documented person-to-person transmission and certainly nothing like what we saw early on with COVID.

If you want my personal take, I still mask at large events / crowded places / airplanes to avoid flu and COVID altogether. I still encourage everyone who is ill to mask and stay home, even though it’s out of fashion. I think we will see egg, dairy, poultry, and beef prices rise with H5, as farmers are forced to cull animals. Also, we may see cases from raw milk and backyard animal husbandry - please don’t drink raw milk, pet cows, kiss chickens, touch dead birds without gloves, etc. right now and you probably won’t get bird flu.

Hope that helps, happy to answer any other influenza or respiratory infectious disease Qs!

Edited to add: The fact we have human cases at all is because farm workers - usually immigrants with limited English - are routinely exploited, denied PPE, or put at risk in unacceptable ways. Farms are basically self regulated in the US, though they are officially regulated by the USDA. It is extraordinarily difficult to get farms to cooperate with pandemic preparedness. You have to pay them federal money to do anything. There have been documented cases of farm workers being told to cull infected birds with zero PPE, and that’s unacceptable. These vulnerable people are the ones paying the price for our H5 knowledge right now, and it’s not right. It’s disheartening to have worked on pandemic preparedness for decades, fumble COVID altogether, and still fail to prepare for the next one. As climate change continues unmitigated we expect to see more human-wildlife interaction and more zoonotic diseases. We can’t just do good science; we also must address workers’ rights, capitalism, and climate change.

Yes, what Smoogs said! I use washes a lot - which means a lot of water on the paper - so wrinkling has been a constant problem with other papers. These are 100% cotton so it absorbs water much differently compared to papers made with wood pulp.

He is such a fucking clown!!! Ugh

Rare Harrell w, only achieved because SPD is so wildly awful. Good riddance!

I splurged on some really nice watercolor paper blocks (Arches cold press), tested them today and I’m obsessed.

Ah yes, cats and farming, of course they would race around your vines!

Thank you for sating my immense curiosity with such a detailed response! Canada’s greenhouse game is unbeatable so it’ll be interesting to see how they fare. And wishing you lots of luck with your harvest and hydro setup!

So cool!! Is your crop in a greenhouse or outdoors? I’m guessing you live somewhere tropical enough to not need a greenhouse for these. Any pest issues? How can you tell when to harvest them? I have a decent track record with orchids indoors, so I’m intrigued.

One of my college roommates must have written this…

Hokusai, eat your heart out

Welcome! I should have linked the wiki but here you go: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism

Edward Said’s Orientalism is a real slog to read, but definitely the foundational academic work on this, if your interest is piqued.

In a word: orientalism. This art movement was predicated on the exoticism and “othering” of subject matter and the bystanders serve as a proxy for the audience of the art itself.

There are two ways to build community - one is doing it from scratch, and one is finding a community and joining it. So, start with what’s easy. Are there existing communities of people you could join, based on your interests? (For example: churches, book clubs, bands, athletic groups, etc?) Since you’re a plant nerd like me, check out nonprofits that need volunteers for gardening or landscaping. Check Meetup, check local event calendars, ask your friends what they’re up to, and invite yourself along.

Building community from scratch takes time, but it can be done. It starts with introducing yourself to your neighbors. Does anyone pass by when you’re in the garden? Maybe the same person walking their dog every day? Stop and say hi to them. Learn their names. Ask for their contact info. The more time you spend outside, the more you are going to see neighbors you can “bump into.”

Once you have their contact info, email or text them when you need something, or there is a cool event. You can be cliche; ask for a cup of sugar and make small talk. Or bring cookies to that reclusive neighbor you’re never met. Here are some emails I’ve gotten from my neighbors this week: a pizza school fundraiser; a car was broken into; beach pictures from a past neighbor who moved to Oregon in 2023; someone has extra plant starts; a new restaurant just opened.

You also have to be the person that introduces your neighbors to each other - “have you met X yet?” or “do you know who lives over at 123?” Invite them over. Have a neighborhood happy hour, outside, in the street - other neighbors will come out and you can meet them too, get their contact info, and make sure they get added to the list for the next one.

I live on an extraordinary block with amazing neighbors - we watch each others’ pets, water each others’ plants, have regular outdoor happy hours, have an annual block party, go out to bars/shows/meals with each other, have craft nights, etc. They are now some of my closest friends! But it took years (and COVID stir-craziness) to get to this point. It isn’t a fast process, but now we have a real, solid community. We are ages 37-77 and I think at least 3 of them have my house keys, lol.

I hope this helps! Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. A LOT of people are craving connection right now so even when it feels clunky, it’s working.

• Ireland and Italy offer citizenship by descent, but it is a long process
• The Netherlands and the US have a treaty called DAFT that allows you to start a business in NL
• France offers a self employment visa
• Check skill shortage lists for countries of interest - almost all European countries need skilled trades, truck drivers, etc. that wouldn’t require a degree
• Study abroad; it’s possible you could apply and receive funding for a degree since many countries have free education + work study arrangements for your living expenses
• Teach English abroad
• Look at international NGOs, you could possibly get hired as an admin/etc. without a degree but that might be a stretch