Encourages Everyone in Illinois to Get a Flu Shot During the Holidays to Protect Themselves, their Families and Loved Ones

CHICAGO - December 6, 2012. With the holiday season here and public health officials saying that we're seeing more flu activity this year, Governor Pat Quinn today encouraged everyone six months and older in Illinois to get a seasonal flu shot. To mark National Influenza Vaccination Week from Dec. 2 through 8, the governor rolled up his sleeve and received a flu shot from the state's Public Health Director, Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck.

"Public health officials are warning that this year we are already seeing a higher level of flu activity in some areas of the state than all of last flu season," Governor Quinn said. "In order to stay healthy through the holidays and all winter long, the most important thing you can do is get a flu shot now, so that you don't expose yourself and your family to unnecessary illness."

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois has seen an increase in flu activity this season. IDPH says that physicians in some areas of the state, including Cook County, are reporting an increase in people with influenza-like illnesses. There have also been recent institutional flu outbreaks and several laboratory-confirmed cases.

"Governor Quinn is setting a great example today," said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. "Getting vaccinated is the single best way for you to protect not only yourself against flu, but your loved ones as well. We recommend everyone six months and older get vaccinated."

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year an estimated 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu. On average, influenza in the U.S. results in approximately 200,000 hospitalizations and more than 25,000 deaths annually. Flu symptoms may include a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, headache, body aches, exhaustion, chills and weakness. 

The influenza virus can be spread through coughing or sneezing. People can also get the flu by touching objects carrying the virus, such as telephones and door knobs, and then touching their mouth or nose. Public health officials recommend that in addition to getting a flu shot, it is important to practice "the three C's": Clean: properly wash your hands; Cover: cover your cough and sneeze; and Contain: contain your germs by staying home if you are sick.

The CDC says that young children, pregnant women, people with chronic medical conditions and the elderly are at higher risk of complications from influenza. Side effects are mild; some individuals may experience mild flu-like symptoms for a few days after vaccination and/or soreness at the injection site.

For more information about the seasonal flu shot and staying healthy, visit www.idph.state.il.us/flu/ and www.flu.gov. 

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Iowa State Cyclones will square off against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the 54^th AutoZone Liberty Bowl at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Liberty Bowl Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to host a representative team from the Big 12 Conference, one of the most powerful and prestigious conferences in the country," said Steve Ehrhart, executive director of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Iowa State will be marking the 40^th anniversary of its first and only appearance in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in 1972. The Cyclones played Georgia Tech in the 1972 game and were coached by Johnny Majors.

This will be Tulsa's second trip to the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The Golden Hurricane defeated Fresno State in the 2005 game 31-24. Tulsa earned its spot in this year's AutoZone Liberty Bowl with a 33-27 overtime win over UCF in the C-USA Championship game.

For more information, visit www.autozonelibertybowl.org.

For more information on Tennessee happenings, visit us at tnvacation.com, facebook.com/tnvacation, tnvacation.com/triptales/, twitter.com/tnvacation/ or pinterest.com/tnvacation/

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Byron B. Oberst's new book offers a look at the life of a pediatrician's family

OMAHA, Neb. - The new book "A Tale of a Mother, Her Three Boys, and Their Dog: The Love Story of a Father for His Family" (published by AuthorHouse), by Byron B. Oberst M.D., FAAP, is the humorous and heart-warming story of one pediatrician and how he and his family embraced every aspect of life together.

"A Tale of a Mother, Her Three Boys, and Their Dog" describes the adventures, travels, activities and various interests of an active and involved family. It tells the story of what the author calls "the romance of the century," as well sports, humor, sadness, family interrelationships, games teenagers play, parenting episodes and many other aspects in an ever-evolving family.

Oberst knows that readers, when finished with his book, will have experienced a glimpse into the "...refreshing life of an all-American family with its many ups and downs and ins and outs over a considerable span of time, and their ability to cope with whatever they were faced with."

"A Tale of a Mother, Her Three Boys, and Their Dog"

By Byron B. Oberst M.D., FAAP

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 178 pages | ISBN 9781477279120

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 178 pages | ISBN 9781477279137

E-Book | 178 pages | ISBN 9781477279113

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Byron B. Oberst M.D., FAAP is the noted author of several medical books. His latest one was "Reflections on Pediatric Medicine from 1943 to 2010. A Dual Love Story". He was in private pediatric practice for 37 years. In addition to his burgeoning general pediatric practice, he had a large consultative practice. Oberst was a pioneer in the use of the exchange transfusion for the compromised Rh negative mother with an Rh positive infant, adolescent medicine, and in the attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity. He was an expert on practice management in private pediatric medicine and taught the same at the national level. He was an active participant in many medical societies, including the Society for Computer Medicine. He was very active in the American Academy of Pediatrics at the national level for about 15 years. He retired from practice in 1988.

The other night (I was channel-surfing and don't remember which network, show or host was involved), I caught House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) talking about the "fiscal cliff" negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans.

Paraphrased, the alternatives Pelosi posited in these negotiations were:

On one hand, raise taxes on "the rich" (Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, like every other Democrat I've heard on the issue, dishonestly characterized this approach as "asking them to pay a little more" ? taxes aren't something that are "asked" for).

On the other hand, run up more government debt and pass the costs on to the next generation.

The third alternative ? cutting government spending ? never made it on to the studio table.

The whining from both sides of the partisan aisle in Washington notwithstanding, there's nothing "draconian" about the cuts required to balance the federal checkbook with no changes in tax policy. Based on 2013 revenue projections, reducing federal spending to 2008 levels would balance that budget. Reducing it to 2006 levels would yield a $300 billion surplus.

In fairness to Pelosi and the Democrats, that studio table isn't the only table such a proposal is missing from. It isn't on the real negotiating table either, because neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are willing to put it there.

Politicians are capable of ? indeed, given to ? sweeping visions and great excesses. It's hard to imagine a damn-fool scheme that someone in Washington won't take seriously and make an effort to move through the bowels of the legislature for eventual deposit on the president's desk.

But there's one idea that's deemed inadmissible in political proceedings: The idea that the size, scope and power of government could ever, in any particular or for any reason, be reduced by so much as an iota.

That idea isn't just dreaded and despised. It's literally unthinkable to the political class. So much so that politicians attempt to erase the concept from our political vocabulary by using words which would normally denote it for exact opposite purposes.

Thus when we hear of pending "draconian cuts" in this or that program, we can translate that as "slight reductions in the rate of growth" without fear of error. And we can know to a high degree of certainty that any reference to "austerity" applies only to the productive class and never, never, ever to the political class.

As other writers are fond of observing, political power is like a ratchet. You can turn it in either direction, but it only moves the socket one way. The back-turn is just an illusion. It's really the politicians putting on a show while they work up some more leverage to tighten the nut down on your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Or proximately, in the case of the "fiscal cliff," on your wallet.

Every state, from its founding, puts its feet on the path toward total statism. The nature of power is to harness itself ? and its victims ? to the accrual of more power. There may be fits and starts along the way, but never a departure from the path or a real reversal in direction absent popular rebellion and political collapse.

At this point, the United States is much closer to the end of that path than to its beginning. The "fiscal cliff" mugging is sham and theater, of no real import save to the extent that it masks the rea question: Do we take this government down, or wait for it to take us down with it? There is no third alternative.