Get Your Flu Shot, Folks!

[MineralMan]

The flu season hasn't really started yet, and there are no crowds at the many places that provide flu shots. If you have just about any health insurance, it won't cost you a penny. If you're on Medicare, it won't cost you a penny. If you're over 65, do opt for the high dose vaccine, too. I didn't do that last year, and ended up with a very mild case of the flu after flying to California at Christmas.

If you wait until the flu is active in your area, you run the risk of getting infected before you have time for your vaccine to be effective. Right now, there's hardly any flu activity, so getting your shot now is an excellent way to avoid the flu this year. So don't wait until flu shot clinics are full of people who already have the flu.

Now's the best time!

[Peacetrain]

1. This is very good advice..

Not only for us as individuals to protect our health..but to protect those around us so we do not expose them to the flu.. especially little ones..

[uppityperson]

2. It will also help not over run our health care system by getting sick and needing care.

k&r

[MineralMan]

4. Yes, and it will help avoid spreading the flu

to those who can't get the vaccine. I can't think of a single good reason not to get vaccinated if you don't have a condition that prevents it. Not a single good reason.

[kestrel91316]

74. Improve herd health, save taxpayer and insurance premium dollars and lost work time.

What's not to like?

I just can't fathom why the antivaxers hate this sort of thing.

[pinto]

3. +1

Quick, simple, effective prevention

[zappaman]

5. No way.

I don't want autism.

[mopinko]

9. you are kidding, right?

you forgot this ?

[Liberal Veteran]

18. Adult-onset autism is the worst kind.

[uppityperson]

25. tohs ulf a tog I . sdrawkcab epyt uoy sekeam tI

[Voice for Peace]

72. sdrow llepssim uoy sekam osla

[uppityperson]

78. spoo

[Voice for Peace]

80. (:

[fadedrose]

233. What do I od ot ekam eht sdrow backsdraw?

My keybdraob doen'st do it thgir ?

[Enthusiast]

171. Especially when combined with Alzheimer's.

[onecent]

73. no way for me also EVER!!!!!!

[Logical]

93. Serious? Nt

[Warren DeMontague]

138. Why not? They have that awesome SXSW thing every year.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

213. You BetterBelieveIt!

I'm still here despite your best efforts, hahahahahhaa!

[winter is coming]

6. Costco's doing them for $15. n/t

[MineralMan]

7. That's a good deal if your insurance doesn't cover it.

A good investment, I think.

[TBF]

8. Got it with my physical this month -

no extra charge to me. Just paid my normal copay. Same with the kids.

[herding cats]

10. Thanks, I do need to do that.

I keep forgetting, which considering it's all the marquees of every pharmacy I drive past is inexcusable.

[uppityperson]

11. Dont' insurance companies pay for it via ACA? Not sure about employer ones

[MineralMan]

12. ACA compliant policies cover it.

Not everyone is insured by an ACA-compliant policy, though.

[uppityperson]

13. Thank you, that is what I thought and meant. I almost bought 1 at pharmacy but remembered

and got it for free at my clinic i stead.

[MineralMan]

14. I'm glad you got one.

[uppityperson]

19. Me too as it sets off my asthma in a really bad way, prefer to avoid that and the resulting pnumoni

[notadmblnd]

32. there's a vaccine for pneumoni too.

[uppityperson]

39. I have had that but unfortunately there are lots of microscopic critters that like to live in

warm moist lungs, especially if under aerated.

[sarge43]

64. And shingles

If you had chicken pox, you're at risk for shingles. Trust me, you do not want to go through that.

[HockeyMom]

146. Did you get your shingles shot?

My husband had shingles and it went all down his back. He thought he had Poison Ivy and described it as the same itch. Poison Ivy worst exprience of your life? I would put that way down on my list of my most awful illnesses. His doctor gave him a shot, which stopped the itch, and the rash went away in about a week. That was last year. This year he asked his for his shingles shot. Doctor said don't bother. Once you have had shingles, the vax is less than 10% effective. Did you know that?

[Hekate]

167. You might get a second opinion on that 10% thing

My husband got shingles, after which I asked for the vax. And paid $160, iirc. Later on, after he healed, hubby got the shot too. Our doc doesn't go for useless treatments, so as I said you might get another opinion.

[sarge43]

174. Yes I did.

I never had it, but watched my mother suffer through a bout. It was on her face and damn near blinded her. So as soon as the vac was available, I had my arm out.

No, it isn't the worst illness, but why go through it when there's help.

[littlemissmartypants]

184. Very painful. nt

[sarge43]

188. Extremely painful

My mother was no wimp, but when she was enduring the shingles it was one of three times I saw her cry.

[kiva]

236. Then he was damn lucky.

I just spent four weeks alternating between a hydrocodone haze and very bad pain and burning and itching, which is closer to the experiences I've heard others describe.

[Quixote1818]

160. I believe all insurance companies have to cover preventative care via ACA

I know mine didn't cover it two years ago but starting last year it did start because it had to.

[CTyankee]

15. I just did. For free as I'm on Medicare...

I didn't know about "high dose" but maybe I got one anyway as my paperwork indicated my age...so the pharmacist giving it knew.

Another thing folks should know is that they don't really know how long the supply will last.

I also didn't know that I should have the shot at least 2 weeks before leaving the country...I'm going to Europe Nov. 1st so I made the deadline...

[R.Quinn]

16. Allow me to be a dissenting voice.

Never had the flu. Never gotten a vaccine for the flu. Not getting one now.

I eat right, I sleep right, I work out several times during the week. If I get the flu, then I will get the flu, and it will run its course, and I will be just fine at the end of the day. I have a good immune system that will handle it naturally. Much safer route than needlessly injecting myself with thiomersol, viral proteins, or anything else that the vaccine contains.

No thanks.

[MineralMan]

17. Do as you please.

Good luck to you.

[geek tragedy]

20. So you are going to infect everyone around you as well

due to your adherence to anti-vaxxer superstitions?

[MineralMan]

22. Wait! That poster won't get the flu! He never gets the flu.

He said so. He works out and stuff. No viruses can touch him.

[R.Quinn]

24. Hey now

Look guys, I'm not judging any of you for wanting to get vaccinated. Sorry if I came off otherwise. I personally am just not convinced that I need the vaccine. Maybe that will change in the future. But for now, I'll take my chances.

If I do get the flu, I'll gladly stay home and isolate myself to prevent further transmission.

[MineralMan]

26. Well, see, I was wondering why you bothered to come into

a thread advising people to get their flu shot now, rather than later. Is your advice that they not get a flu shot?

I don't know how old you are, but I can tell you that if you're older and get the flu, you'll wish you had gotten the shot. Older people often end up in the hospital with it. And tens of thousands of people in the USA die each year after getting the flu.

So your complacency about your own invulnerability seems a little out of place in a thread that is just suggesting that people get their flu shot now, rather than later.

Again, good luck with all that.

[R.Quinn]

33. It was

your comment "I can't think of a single good reason not to get vaccinated if you don't have a condition that prevents it" that made me want to offer a different viewpoint, as that comment seemed to be a general endorsement of the flu shot, be it now or later.

I guess I'm not offering advice specifically on this vaccine as much as I am saying to simply think twice and make sure to do your homework on things like this. Call me crazy, but I take everything I hear from the FDA and the CDC with a grain of salt. That's all.

I concede that my age would be more of a factor if I was older; as a healthy male in my early twenties, I trust my body right now, but that may indeed change in the future.

[MineralMan]

34. Well, see, you haven't provided a good reason.

Do you have any idea how many millions of people get the flu shot each year? Do you know how few of those have any side effects at all? Do you know how many people die in an average year after getting the flu?

I think you should go get the answers to those questions. Really I do.

Yours is not really a different viewpoint. It is a viewpoint based on a lack of accurate information and unwarranted suspicion. It really makes no sense.

[R.Quinn]

45. My reason

may not appear "good" to you, but it's sufficient for me.

The way I see it, I can either:

1) Inject myself with unnatural material to supposedly prevent a virus I've never gotten

-or-

2) Do nothing, letting my body naturally run its course

As far as yearly deaths (as estimated by the CDC) go, sometimes it's as low as 8,000, sometimes as high as 40,000. I can live with that. If you and millions of others believe flu vaccines are helping you, then that's cool with me. I just don't want to put that stuff in my body unless absolutely necessary.

[MineralMan]

51. Well, I'm glad to hear that you're OK with thousands of people dying.

I guess. You "can live with that." Cool!

I'm still uncertain why you bothered to join this thread, you see.

[R.Quinn]

55. You misunderstood me.

When I said "I can live with that," I was meaning to say "I can live with those odds of dying from the flu". Come on now.

I commented because you said you couldn't come up with a reason not to get vaccinated, so I gave you mine.

[MineralMan]

56. Cool!

[GoneOffShore]

65. I suggest that you read "The Great Influenza"

By John Barry

It's about the 1918 pandemic and how it got started.... before flu vaccines.

[Voice for Peace]

91. I completely respect your point of view

and believe that the human immune system is terribly
weakened in our times, from too much pharmaceutical
intervention, + poor nutrition, unhealthy lifestyle,
general ignorance.

I have never had a flu shot, never thought I needed one
as I'd never been sick with more than a mild case.
Didn't even understand why people got the vaccination,
to be honest.

Till last winter. I was working in a classroom; there
was a visiting grandmother. She sat across the table
from me, didn't appear sick, but coughed a few times.

I became so sick I wanted to die. Flu --> pneumonia,
incapacitated and weak for weeks.

So keep up the excellent attitude, and good healthy
habits -- and welcome to DU. Be forewarned that on DU
if you say much about alternative medicine or against
vaccinations you will be assaulted, insulted, ridiculed,
stalked and vilified, all in the name of science.
(LOL... that's an exaggeration, but not much.) If and
when this happens, remember it is a very small number
of vocal people, not representing the entire forum.

[RKP5637]

179. Seriously, this is a video you might want to watch, 50 million people died from the flu.

Published on Nov 15, 2012
In 1918-1919, the worst flu in recorded history killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The U.S. death toll was 675,000 - five times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in World War I. Where did the 1918 flu come from? Why was it so lethal? What did we learn?

I'm exceptionally healthy too, but there is no way for me I would take chances with the various strains of flu. It is playing Russian roulette with your health and life. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/types.htm

SH** sometimes happens when one least expects it, no matter how healthy one thinks one is. The death rate for this flu strain in 1918-1919 was extremely high for healthy young adults! It was the type of strain of flu that hit them, for example.

Just thought I would pass this along, fyi, in case you had not seen it.

[Voice for Peace]

83. A healthy male in his early twenties

is not only immortal, but omniscient.
So are healthy women in their early twenties.
I say this with deep affection for their innocent confidence.

[littlemissmartypants]

185. I am volunteering for your campaign. nt

[dumbcat]

95. Approx. 150,000 people die every day

globally. We'd be pretty crowded and probably hungry if people never died. I can live with that.

[littlemissmartypants]

186. I respect your love of statistics and have heard that death rattle. nt

[Logical]

99. You skip the polio vac too? nt

[kestrel91316]

79. He apparently doesn't know about or believe in herd immunity.

What a maroon.

[KitSileya]

206. If you work with the young, elderly or immuno-compromised, you are putting them in danger.

Of course, if you don't have contact with any of those, and you have no reason to go to work should you get the flu, and the only one you are risking is yourself, then go ahead.

But you have made sure you can stay at home should you get the flu, right? You're not dependent on the pay, or don't have enough sick leave, or have someone living with you that are immuno-compromised, right?

[Liberal Veteran]

36. The flu can leave you feeling like crap for about a month.

And if you are unlucky, you get pneumonia, bronchitis, ear or sinus infections to make it even less enjoyable.

Of course, if you get something like the 1918 flu, being young and healthy is not all it is cracked up to be. That one killed people in their prime.

[trotsky]

52. The flaw in your reasoning...

is that it's possible to be an asymptomatic carrier of the flu. You could contract and spread the flu without displaying any symptoms yourself. Much safer for everyone around you to just get the vaccine if possible.

[GoneOffShore]

66. ^This^

[HuckleB]

105. +1,000,000 ... 000

[littlemissmartypants]

187. Thank you. nt

[RobinA]

67. You Are New

and apparently don't know that not getting a flu shot is against the party line here.

You've been warned.

[hedgehog]

200. I think people here at DU tend to have several common characteristics:

1. Acceptance of current scientific consensus

2. Commitment to the social contract.

3. Understanding of how odds play out.

4. Belief that government health regulations and inspections are generally useful and effective.

As a result, we tend to be advocates of getting yourself vaccinated.

[RobinA]

211. In That Case

they should probably actually look at the flu vaccine science, because one could make the argument that it doesn't support mass flu vaccination.

But that wasn't really my point. My point was the attempted shaming of people who don't follow the status quo. Everyone should be able to look at the science and make his or her own decision without the bullying that goes on here every year around the flu shot.

[politicat]

144. Hope you've got a time machine and a box of disinfecting wipes.

Because flu is contagious for up to 72 hours before symptomatic onset. Which is why it's such a pisser when it goes epidemic.

So if you do get it, please fire up your TARDIS and retrace your own steps for at least three days, wiping down everything you touched and masking up everyone you breathed around.

Oh, wait...

[laundry_queen]

162. The thing is

that it's not just about you.

When I get the flu, it goes straight to my lungs. I used to think I could handle the flu just fine, even though I had asthma. When I was first diagnosed with asthma at 14, I had been dealing with bronchitis the entire winter. So my mom took me for a flu shot, which at the time was not covered by our provincial health care unless you were deemed 'high risk' (asthma was not classified as high risk at the time, but my mom's friend was the nurse submitting the paperwork and had seen me sick all year and put me down as high risk). I didn't get sick again for years and was lulled into a false sense of security and didn't think I needed to bother with a flu shot.

Then, when I was 33, I caught the flu. Bad. It went straight to my lungs. For weeks I sat in bed coughing my brains out until one day it was so bad I coughed until I saw stars and I vomited and nearly peed my pants. My now-ex was unsympathetic, so I drove myself to the hospital. Where I was rushed into a room for hours of breathing treatments. My lungs had basically closed up shop and no air was getting in. I have the type of asthma where I don't wheeze, I cough. So I didn't realize how serious the problem was.

It took me months to recover. Regular breathing treatments, inhalers, meds etc. were now part of my routine (for years I was med free with my asthma). Then H1N1 came out and my doctor told me I was now officially high risk and made sure I was there the very first day the vaccine was available. Good thing too...3 days later my daughter came down with H1N1 (we're pretty sure - the school sent home a note saying many confirmed cases at the school and the health hotline for our province said she had textbook symptoms). Even though it had only been 3 days since my vaccine, I never did get H1N1 even though I was my daughter's primary caregiver the whole time she was sick (1 week of school then a month of coughing - and she doesn't have asthma).

Ever since then, I get the flu shot every year, except one year where I caught the flu before the shot was available, and then was constantly sick until Christmas - where all our local places were out of the flu vaccine that year. When I caught the flu that one time - I, once again, ended up with bronchitis/borderline pneumonia, had to go in for breathing treatments at our local clinic and took MONTHS to recover. I couldn't even talk without choking and coughing. It drastically affected my daily life (especially because I was a single parent in school full time, I couldn't afford to miss anything).

When I do get the flu shot, I rarely get sick. When I miss it, I get sick and it lasts for months. And because the vaccine is not 100% effective, yes, when I get the flu shot, it's not necessarily going to protect me. And when you are running around carrying the flu, maybe you take a day or 2 off work and recover just fine, but in the meantime you give it to me and affect my life for months on end. In the last few years, I can't even catch a cold without it going straight to my lungs. I'm fighting a cold currently and I can feel my lungs tightening up and I know I'm in for a few weeks of choking coughs. I don't want to see how bad a flu would be now.

I do get worried - I am exactly in the high risk category they warn people about that may die. My kids need me. I do what I can - we all get the shots, we are fanatical about hand washing and we try not to get run down. However, people who think they are 'too healthy' and don't need the shot are the ones *I* need to worry about. My dad was once one of those people - until he had pneumonia a few years ago from the flu. He was really run down for a long time. It woke him up and how he goes with my mom to get vaccinated too. My xFIL is on dialysis and has immune issues, and he could easily die from one bout with the flu. One unvaccinated person carrying around the flu sneezing in a waiting room is all it takes. And most people are contagious before they even know they have the flu, so self isolation isn't necessarily going to prevent passing it on to someone who is vulnerable.

I get why people don't feel like they need it, and they are worried about side effects, or reactions. I don't get that luxury anymore. When I don't get the vaccine, and when people around me don't get it, my life is actually at risk.

[Hekate]

168. And that's the Gods own truth, LQ.

i am very grateful my asthma is nowhere near as bad as yours -- I'm another cough-variant asthmatic, though, and am pretty sure it went unnoticed for years before proper diagnosis as an adult.

Yeah, I make sure to get the vax. I have young grandkids, my daughter runs a preschool, and my husband is on immunosuppressants. We need to keep our herd immunity up.

You take care and stay in good health this winter.

[laundry_queen]

175. You take care too.

Even if your asthma isn't as bad, it doesn't take much to really worsen it. I was med free for years, used my rescue inhaler once or twice a year. It caught up with me. However, it sounds like you are being more cautious than I was back then.

It also took me awhile to get diagnosed. Cough-variant asthma wasn't as well known back then. I was tested for everything under the sun - including TB. It wasn't until they sent me to a pulmonologist that he figured it out in 5 minutes.

I'm just thankful none of my kids have it. My oldest did have some reactive airway issues after she had H1N1 but seems to have overcome it (we had her tested, she was never 'bad enough' to be classified as asthma, just 'reactive airways'). No one in my immediate or extended family has it either. I'm an outlier, LOL.

[distantearlywarning]

230. Another cough-variant asthmatic here

I was diagnosed at age 36 after a bout with what I believe was H1N1 (see my post below for the whole story). I never had asthma before I got that flu, and now it flares up every time I have a cold or am exposed to certain irritants.

I was completely shocked when the doctor told me I had asthma. I couldn't believe it, and I actually even argued with them a bit about it. I wasn't wheezing, just coughing. I had no idea before I became an asthmatic that some people cough instead of wheeze. I also had no idea that people could become asthmatic in middle age as a result of illness - I thought it was something people just had from childhood.

[laundry_queen]

238. Yes, it's strange how an illness can trigger it

That's pretty much how mine started and my daughter that had H1N1 now has 'reactive airways' because of it. It's not yet bad enough for it to be diagnosed asthma with her (we had her tested and while there was clearly some effect it wasn't quite over the 'asthma' threshold) but it affected her for awhile. Thankfully she seems to be getting better every year.

36 is pretty 'old' to be diagnosed with asthma, must've been quite a shock. Your post about H1N1 is good - I'm sorry you had to go through that. So many people don't understand how one illness can permanently damage you. I also had an issue a few years back with a simple cold turning into an ear infection and my ear drum ruptured (I am one of those strange people where an ear infection is not painful until my ear drum explodes, apparently). I will probably have permanent hearing loss because of it. All because of a cold. And I had zero prior incidences of any ear infections, even as a baby I was fine. Strange stuff but it happens. That's why avoiding illness is really, really important.

[HockeyMom]

139. I am the same way

but maybe it is because I am old and when I was young, I got every flu under the sun that was around back before vaccinations. When I got into my 40s, it all stopped. I have worked directly in schools with little children with the flu (and measles and chicken pox) right in my face. I have cleaned up after my own kids decades ago. I have slept in the same bed as my husband who had the flu and never got it. My children's doctor even said that to me. Natural immunity to what they had. Was he just a quack? Maybe it is the same as measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc. My generation actually had those diseases and now have natural immunity to them. We let nature take it's course. No vax needed. Or maybe you think we STILL need those vax anyway? Or maybe those of with natural immunity, not acquired immunity from vax, might be Tyhoid Marys and Willies? Without getting vax we will GIVE give measles, mumps, flu, etc., to somebody else? Follow the herd and roll up your sleeves!!!!!!! Be afraid. Be very AFRAID.

[Union Scribe]

161. Because the flu never changes does it?

All those mutations are just those sciencey people making up stuff again I guess. It's astonishing how gung-ho you are to "let nature take it's (sic) course" when it means people dying who don't need to. It's about as anti-liberal a sentiment as I can imagine.

[Hekate]

169. In high school I met a friend's sister who got mumps encephalitis. She was blind ...

... and managed to walk, but only with crutches and heavy braces. She was not in regular school.

What had been a few weeks' misery for me and my sibs wasn't like that for her. She was crippled for life. And did I mention, blind too.

When I had my own babies, the MMR vax was available. I made sure they got it -- I just did not like the odds of that crapshoot.

I wonder if your own parents decided to not vaccinate you with what was available at the time: DPT and smallpox. Or did they just decide that a dose of whooping cough would boost your immune system, or stepping on a rusty nail wouldn't be as bad as advertised.

[HockeyMom]

178. My parents vaccinated me

as a baby, but when I got old enough it was for me to decide. I have not gotten any vax since I was a child, including boosters, or any of the new ones they now say you should.

I vax my own children back in the 80s, but stopped when they came out with all the new ones (chicken pox and hepatitis). Told their doctor No over 20 years ago. Oh, Dr. Jenny influenced me! lol
My feeling back then, and today, enough is enough. They got chicken pox (doomed to shingles!!!) but did not get hepatitis. They are adults now and can do want they want, and they haven't gotten boosters or any other vax the CDC wants. Adults cannot choose for themselves????

BTW, I have stepped on a rusty nail which penetrated my foot. I pulled it out myself and put peroxide on it. I didn't go to the doctor, let alone get a tetanus booster. That was 30 years ago. Am I a ghost?

[Hekate]

212. People who are born rich think they got that way by being smarter & working harder than poor people

Mostly, they won the economic "parent lottery." They were LUCKY. Like Dubya, who was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.

You apparently won the genetic lottery in a different way. But that was not smart planning on your part, it was dumb luck.

Go ahead, choose for yourself. But recognize that the rest of us don't have oil wells, so to speak, and we work with what we've got.

[Pharaoh]

43. How can he infect you

If you get your shot? BTW I never get the shot and never get the flu

[GoneOffShore]

118. He can infect someone who is unable to take a flu shot or

Is immuno-compromised.

In the same that you can.

Plus he and you compromise herd immunity.

[Mariana]

119. No vaccine is 100% effective.

There are always some people who get the vaccine but don't get the immunity. It happened to me with the measles vaccine. There are also people who can't take vaccines for medical reasons.

I've never had the flu, or the shots, either.

[Pharaoh]

137. plus

if you do this it doesn't help your immune system,

your immune system already does what the shot does.

[cali]

21. I got my first flu shot this summer.

Like you, I've never had the flu, I have a good immune system and take care of myself, but my doc strongly encouraged it this year and I followed his advice. No reaction from the flu shot at all.

[Liberal Veteran]

31. I get a shot ever year and have a reaction.

The reaction involves some mild soreness around the injection site for a day or so.

[3catwoman3]

59. Which can happen...

...with any immunization.

[uppityperson]

62. Woe, oh woe, I say, Woe!

you are funny

[eggplant]

203. THankfully, my doctor has a fainting counch.

For after I get my shot.

Coincidentally, my regular checkup is tomorrow AM. Odd are pretty good I'm getting one.

[peace13]

115. I thought the flu shot was only good for three months.

Has that changed?

[cali]

121. I don't know. I was in the office end of August, and that's when they gave it to me.

[Ms. Toad]

149. Nope. Good for a year or more - always has been.

Unlike immunity created by acquiring the disease which lasts a lifetime, immunity from most vaccinations tends to wear off in a dozen or so years (depending on what virus or bacteria is being vaccinated against). And immunity from the influenza vaccine lasts a much shorter period of time - but still on the order of a year.

BUT - the flu changes every year, so last year's vaccine does not (except on rare occasions) protect against this year's influenza.

And what the flu vaccine bullies don't tell you is that this year's vaccine only protects against their best guess as to what this year's top few strains will be. Sometimes they guess correctly - sometimes they don't. And when they don't (The numbers range from 5% overall to 50% of the time for the B strain of influenza), all this bullying & guilt tripping to coerce people to get the influenza vaccine is for naught. The increased protection for those who received the 2013 vaccine was only 60% because of the inability to predict precisely which strains would be floating around.

[littlemissmartypants]

190. Only 60% ? nt

[Ms. Toad]

196. Yes. Some studies have found even lower.

2010 vaccine 0% - 60% improvement

Mar 1, 2013 (CIDRAP News) – Experts are puzzled by a new study in which influenza vaccination seemed to provide little or no protection against flu in the 2010-11 season—and in which the only participants who seemed to benefit from the vaccine were those who hadn't been vaccinated the season before.

The investigators recruited 328 households in Michigan before the flu season started and followed them through the season. Overall, they found that the infection risk was nearly the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated participants, indicating no significant vaccine-induced protection, according to their report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. That contrasted sharply with several other observational studies that found the vaccine to yield about 60% protection during the same season.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/03/study-getting-flu-shot-2-years-row-may-lower-protection

He also cautioned that the meta-analyses focus on nursing homes, which are very different from hospitals, where patient turnover is higher and there are often people in the facility who aren't HCWs. Even with 100% vaccination rates in employees, the roughly 60% protection offered by the vaccine creates a gap in which workers can still get sick and spread the virus to patients, he said.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/09/analysis-finds-limited-evidence-hcw-flu-vaccination

A total of 2,319 children and adults were enrolled in the study from Dec 2, 2013, to Jan 23, 2014, according to a separate MMWR article today. Of those, 784 tested positive for flu by polymerase chain reaction. Twenty-nine percent of those who tested positive had been vaccinated, versus 50% of those who tested negative. That translates into a VE of 61% (95% confidence interval [CI], 52%-68%).

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/02/cdc-flu-vaccine-61-effective-too-few-adults-get-it

[Xithras]

48. Same here.

The flu shot is particularly useful for people with compromised or weakened immune systems (the sick, the elderly, children), who work in environments where exposure risk is constant (schools, hospitals), or people with conditions that put them at risk for complications.

I've never had a flu shot, and haven't had the flu since early childhood (30+ years ago). I don't see the justification for injecting myself to protect against an illness that my immune system seems to be doing a stellar job of repelling on its own.

[Logical]

98. LOL, just fucking with us? nt

[Xithras]

111. Only a bit.

I really don't get the flu. My doctor says that I'm probably just predisposed to being an asymptomatic carrier...meaning that I probably do actually catch it, but that my immune system defeats it before I show physical symptoms. About a third of flu infections don't show symptoms, and some of us are just wired to consistently fall into that third.

This is a good thing for me, because I have a genuine needle phobia (to the point where I've twice lost consciousness while having blood drawn, and once hit a nurse in a panic). My doc says it's probably related to a series of surgeries I had when I was about four years old.

So, no. No flu shots for me.

[Logical]

116. Only 10% of polio cases cause any issues. Skip that one also? nt

[laundry_queen]

163. You don't need a needle

they have nasal spray vaccines now. Totally easy. I've done both the shot and the nasal spray and the spray is way easy (although locally I found the best needle giver around, you don't even feel it, he's really good, even my kids didn't feel a thing).

Anyhow, being a carrier means you can pass it on to someone who can very well die from the flu. I know many people who could easily die from the flu - my xFIL who is on dialysis and has immune and heart issues, a girl in my daughter's school with cystic fibrosis, my xMIL who has severe lung/immune issues...heck I could, since I'm high risk.

So, just so you know, you don't need a needle anymore. And also - just because you haven't had the flu in the past doesn't mean you won't get it in the future. My dad got it a few years ago after being that, "I never get sick" guy. Oh, he got sick. Worse than any of us. It was a wake up call. I wonder how many people he passed the flu on to all those years he refused to get vaccinated?

[littlemissmartypants]

191. And the mist is highly recommended. nt

[kestrel91316]

77. It's you right to be a Typhoid Mary for flu. Enjoy your status. It's a real

cause to be proud.

Yes, you can get a mild case and then happily and cluelessly pass it on, perhaps to that cancer chemo patient who couldn't get a flu shot, or that outlier toddler that didn't respond adequately to the vaccine. If you're really lucky your omission might even lead to someone's death.

You're awesome.

[upaloopa]

110. You are a real drama writer. What do you want to

bet any of that happens? Also what do you want to bet that anyone getting a flu shot will not have all that happen to them?

[littlemissmartypants]

192. I bet two ebola cases and raise you a polio. nt

No sarcasm thingy here.

[HuckleB]

210. Betting on people's health is such a fun thing to do.

[upaloopa]

217. No we are not betting on health we are betting

in wether what you said the no vaccine person will cause will actually happen.
Chances are so rare there is virtually no risk to anyone thus the need for drama to support an other wise unsupportable post.

[HuckleB]

218. What did I say?

You might want to pay attention before ranting.

Also, you might want to learn something about immunology, and maybe definitions. You don't appear to know what the term "rare" means.

[Logical]

97. Lol, not a deep thinker I assume? nt

[NuclearDem]

100. Get your shot.

Some immunocompromised person you dot even know will thank you for contributing to herd immunity and reducing the risk of getting them killed.

[gollygee]

107. A good immune system doesn't always help with the flu

I didn't used to bother getting one for my older daughter because of how strong her immune system is, and then she got the flu and got it horribly. She was sicker than I've ever seen anyone with the flu, and was having enough trouble breathing that she was passing out.

I ended up taking her to the ER because she started passing out on a weekend, and the ER doctor said that the flu can actually set your immune system against you, so that the stronger your immmune system, the worse you can get it. It isn't safe to say "I have a strong immune system so I'll be OK."

I kick myself for not making the time to do it, and instead skipping it that year.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

117. With some strains of flu a strong immune system can actually make it worse.

Some flus cause what's called a cytokine storm, where the virus uses the body's immune system against it. That's why most of the people who died of Spanish flu in 1918 were healthy young adults.

[laundry_queen]

164. Yep, exactly. nt

[upaloopa]

109. I agree with you

But of course yours is not the popular opinion. Last year the vaccine was not the one for the flu that went around.
I never get a flu shot and never get the flu. So we will not be the pride of the herd so fucking what.

[lunamagica]

113. You are lucky to be so healthy, but

Wouldn't you consider getting the shot as a kindness to those less fortunate than you (health wise.)

It can make so much difference for those children, old people, health compromised people you encounter.

Please, reconsider

[ecstatic]

114. +100. nt

[Humanist_Activist]

136. I got the flu shot today because I care about other people, you apparently don't...

you talk about catching the flu as if you don't care if you give it to others, I have young nieces and nephews who don't need to get it, elderly parents and parent-in-laws that shouldn't catch it, I'm doing my part to try to minimize the risk to THEM.

[tandot]

153. my 40 year old cousin ... flu ... pneunomia ... death

She died last year. She always got flu shots because she worked with children. For some reason, last year, she didn't get the flu shot. She got the flu, Pneumonia, and died.

Needless to say, as soon as the news broke, every single family member who didn't get the flu shot by then, raced to get it.

If more people would get the flu shot, less people would spread the flu. Herd immunity ... it keeps the more vulnerable from dying.

Even if you get it and don't really get sick ... you can pass it on to someone else ... who might die from it.

My son was born prematurely and I worried the most of taking him anywhere because his immune system was compromised. Do your fellow human beings a favor and get the shot. Unless you treasure the thought of being responsible for other people's deaths, just be kind and do it ... PRETTY PLEASE

[Heidi]

180. At the end of the day?

Indeed, that is a good immune system.

[LanternWaste]

215. An accurate example of the post-hoc-ergo prompter-hoc fallacy.

"Never had the flu. Never gotten a vaccine for the flu..."

An accurate example of the post-hoc-ergo prompter-hoc fallacy.

[WillowTree]

23. Got mine, along with my pneumonia vaccine, a couple of weeks ago.

One less think to think about.

Actually.......two.

[MineralMan]

29. Good. I got my pneumonia shot a couple of years ago.

The doctor said it was good for 10 years, I think. The flu changes every year, though, so we need one annually.

[WillowTree]

41. Mine said 5 years, and my last one was at least that long ago.

At my age, I need to start being careful. I have a decent job at a company that'll let me keep working as long as I want to and can still do the job. Staying on top of health decisions will play into that.

[MineralMan]

42. Hmm...I'll have to check on that. Mine was three years ago.

[WillowTree]

50. The good news is that you have at least two years to check it out. LOL!!

Good that you're taking care of you.

[RKP5637]

61. I asked my new dr. about that, I could not remember how far back my last one was. He said it

does not matter, you can take it every year if wanted.

Given one of my friends has almost died from pneumonia a couple of times and my body seems to love influenza, I plan to get both the flu shot (high dose) and pneumonia shot each year. Already got them for this year.

I had the flu a couple of years ago even with the flu shot. It was horrible, I almost checked into the hospital, it was getting so I could not breath. My cat was even concerned, jumped up and stared and stared at me, are you going to be OK?

[MineralMan]

63. Stay safe!

[Gothmog]

27. I got my flu shot last week

[get the red out]

28. Got mine!

Glad I did.

[MineralMan]

30. Yay!

[catbyte]

35. Done! The university I work at offered them at work for free. It's awesome. I wish

more places offered that. They offered them a couple of weeks ago & nursing students gave us the shots. It's a great thing.

[MineralMan]

38. Good job! I like those workplace clinics.

They're getting more and more common. Employers have finally figured out that keeping people from getting sick is good for business. Who'd have ever thought of that, you know?

[Lebam in LA]

37. Haven't had flu since the Hong Kong Flu in 1969

Have never had a flu shot so not sure how getting one this year would make a difference. I get horrible colds and bronchitis so I do get a pneumonia shots every year

[MineralMan]

40. The flu is different every year.

If you skip it, and get the flu, that bronchitis can easily turn to pneumonia. That's what kills people who catch the flu. If you get bronchitis frequently, you really, really should get your flu shot. It could save your life.

I got the Hong Kong flu in 1969, too. I've gotten my flu shot ever since. That was a horrible year for flu and I never want to be that sick again.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

112. I got Hong Kong flu during that epidemic, too.

I think it was in December of 1968. God, I was sick. I don't think I've been that sick before or since (though the case of scarlet fever I got when I was 10 was pretty close). It was absolutely miserable - I was worried that I might die and at the same time worried that I wouldn't. And I was young and quite healthy; now that I'm getting old a bad case of flu might just do me in. I am a devout believer in flu shots.

[Enthusiast]

172. My family had that Hong Kong flu. I was delirious. I don't want to go through that again.

We get our shot every year. We got this season's shot about a week ago.

Some people are deathly afraid of shots.

[HockeyMom]

207. I had Scarlet Fever a few weeks before my 6th birthday

My temperature went up to 105. My Mom said I was delusional in my sleep. Grandma didn't. I was describing everything I was seeing, beginning with being at the ceiling looking down at myself and them. Today a lot of people would describe this as a near death psychic experience. What I was describing might have sounded delusional at the time, and horrific, but it didn't 9 years later almost to the day on my 15th birthday on November 22, 1963. I woke from that dream, soaking in sweat, and my fever had broken. I remembered everything I had seen in the dream. What was worse my sickness or that dream? For me then, and today, it was the dream. Well, Grandma, whose culture believes in these things, said everything happens for a reason. I learned a long time ago what that reason was.

I don't want to start a religious discussion here, but after my husband's heart attack (Code Blue 4 times), a number of the nurses asked him what he saw when he blacked out. He saw nothing. He was lucky. Why would people in medicine even ask something like that?

Sorry to get OT here. This might belong in a Religion thread, but this is what I experienced as a child with Scarlet Fever.

[Enthusiast]

216. Wow!

I'm glad you made it.

[uppityperson]

44. Did you know that hacking bronchitis often is the aftermath of influenza? And you do not need an a

nual pnuemonia vaccine, unless your health care provider recommends it, knowing you had one the previous year also.

[Lebam in LA]

223. my doctor insists on the pnuenomia vaccine

and only suggests the flu vaccine. Upon reading some of the posts I may try the flu vaccine this year just to see if it helps. By the way I never get my colds during flu season. Always summer colds

[Blue_In_AK]

132. I had that, too,

in late 1968. The only other time I've been as sick was when I had viral meningitis/encephalitis in 1980.

I don't get sick now, and, like you, I don't get the shot. I'm retired, don't mingle much, so I'm not worried.

[ballyhoo]

46. I got one, with the extra dosage for people over 65. CVS, paid by CIGNA.

[Glassunion]

47. We just had them at work today.

$0.00

Also had a pneumonia vaccine last week at the doc. Good for about 5 years.

[debbyk]

49. Reason to use Walmart

Whatever issues we have with Walmart and their tax dodging, they are advertising that if you get a flu shot there (free through most insurance, mine was) by Oct 13, they will donate a vaccine to a child in a developing country.

[gopiscrap]

143. Welcome to DU

knowing Wal-Mart it's either a cut rate vaccine (watered down) or they are taking the cost of it out of an employees salary some how.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

205. paying their employees is a net loss, but donating vaccine is a BIG tax write-off.

Ulterior Motives. That should be a song. Then we could sing it all the time.

[RKP5637]

53. Don't forget pneumonia too especially for older folks. n/t

[MineralMan]

54. Good advice, indeed!

[scarystuffyo]

57. I got mine at CVS for free but there was a long line to wait

I got passed over a couple of times by the staff there but it was no big deal.
Maybe CVS doesn't get paid as much when you use Medicaid like other plans

[gopiscrap]

141. Welcome to DU

[Chakaconcarne]

58. hell no!

[MineralMan]

60. Oh, goodie.

Thanks for sharing your negative decision. We're all better for it.

[ffr]

68. Seems most of the people getting them around here have the weakest immune systems

Maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to take better care of ourselves. Regardless of whether you get the flu shot booster or not, that should be a good idea.

Can we all agree on that?

[MineralMan]

70. Is that how it seems?

I hadn't noticed anything like that.

[ffr]

81. You're sounding snarky

But entertain me while I go into detail.

I know a lot of people, as I'm sure you do too, who get the flu shot booster. Three of them stand out in my mind as having weak immune systems, but the appearance is they're all getting sick more often and for longer periods.

One of my co-workers here gets sick throughout the year. Her sicknesses mirror those of my oldest brother. Not sure her reasoning for the booster, but my brother gets them because his wife is a RN, so it's upon her recommendation. Their sicknesses are clearly not allergies, they are actually sick. Most of the time it's colds or bronchitis, which lingers with them for months. Of course, the flu shot doesn't help them with that at all. The worst part is that don't have any sick time remaining, so they come into work sick "because they need the money." And the co-worker to the girl here, who also got last year's flu shot, still got the stomach flu. He also had several colds between Fall & Spring, which he made clear were colds, not the flu.

O-kay?!

All three received this year's shot too, because they say it decreases the length to which their sicknesses last. To which I have to respond, your sicknesses last forever as it is. If that's your definition of shorter, you must really need the flu shot booster, because your immune system is beat to hell.

There are some who get the shots and don't seem to get the flu too often as well, but many of them are health and exercise nuts.

I just wish that anyone who thinks or knows they're coming down with an illness would just take it upon themselves to quarantine themselves until they're no longer contagious. That should be common courtesy.

[uppityperson]

89. Stomach flu is not what the influenza vaccone protects against, is a totally different virus.

People should be able totake sick time when sick, wish more employers realized it makes good sense

[ffr]

124. I didn't say it was. The word flu is used as a general term

just as the concept of the flu shot booster doesn't protect against all flu viruses.

We know this.

[uppityperson]

126. gee, the measles vaccine doesn't protect against head lice, does it?

You did say that coworker who got last uears flu shot still got the stomach flu (with underlining). The flu vaccine, influenza vaccine, does not protect against commonon intestinal viruses, so people who complain they got the flu vaccine yet STILL got stomach flu, well yes. That was. ot what the vaccine was for. Rather likethe measles vaccine does not protect against head lice.

[ffr]

130. I'll make you a deal, since this is a subject that is

very dear to you.

You can have the last word.

Ready?

Go!

[MineralMan]

92. Well, since the influenza vaccine doesn't protect against any of the

common intestinal viruses, I guess we're not talking about the same thing in the first place. I hope you will go and educate yourself.

[ffr]

129. *sigh*

MM, you're not winning anyone over. Say something that's positive and agreeable, instead of snarky and belittling.

Well, since the influenza vaccine doesn't protect against any of the


common intestinal viruses, I guess we're not talking about the same thing in the first place. I hope you will go and educate yourself.

I think I just did. I read that the stomach flu really isn't a flu, similar to what you wrote, but contrary to how most people view it. Which makes me wonder then if I've ever had the flu, as in the ones the flu shot is for or has been for.

RE: The flu shot booster. We know this. It doesn't protect A-G-A-I-N-S-T all flu strains. No kidding?!

So I've been living for xx number of years. The assumption is that I've been exposed to all the flu shot peoples sicknesses (which we know) and other peoples sicknesses in general (which we know). And those people are puzzled about the last time I've been sick, because they cannot remember when that was.

[Ilsa]

103. I agree that sick people should quarantine themselves, for their

own good as well as for others. If they are running around sick and pick up a new infection, their immune system might already be taxed to its limit. They should stay home until they are stronger and no longer contagious.

BTW, flu vaccines cycle different strains every year.

[uppityperson]

84. People who are generally poorer health have a tendency to get vx for diseases to prevent from

getting them? Like me, who has had pnuemonia and wants to decrease my chances of getting it again from flu afterrmath? And...this is bad? Or do I misunderstand, i ternet communication can be difficult. Thanks.

Of course people should in general take good care of themselves.

[HuckleB]

219. The plural of anecdote is not data.

Try again.

[Auggie]

69. Flu screwed me up something terrible -- I always get a shot now

[boomer55]

71. Isn't the vaccine a crap shoot?

[Liberal Veteran]

75. More like an educated guess based on which strains are circulating.

What that means is there is a possibility that a strain not selected for vaccination that year can be the one that is dominant. They do a fairly good job, but it is based on sound science.

[HuckleB]

106. +1,000,000 ... 000

[Ms. Toad]

150. If you call 50% a fairly good job

(for the B strain).

Or only a 60% increase in protection for the 2013 strains.

Not accurate enough to justify all the bullying of those who choose not to vaccinate for influenza.

[Nay]

76. Done! Got it last week at a local hospital's free flu shot site. Had slight

soreness of my arm for a couple of days. I have only had the flu a couple of times as a young adult and I did not enjoy it at all. As an oldie now, I get my shot every year. I can't get Mr Nay to get a shot, though -- he's one of those who thinks nothing will ever happen to him. And he's actually had the flu before! Oh, well. You can drag them to the trough, but you can't make 'em drink.

[Treant]

82. I asked for extra mercury

in my shot.

This year, I had two choices. The trivalent (three virus) shot, or the quadravalent (four). I chose the four virus one figuring I might as well be immune to as much as possible.

[polichick]

87. Me too! They gave me a sticker for being such a good sport.

[Ms. Toad]

151. You are aware that there actually is mercury in the most common forms of influenza vaccine, right?

Not only that, but two of the ones with the highest mercury content are approved for children as young as 6 months. (Despite the meme that thimerosal was completely removed from children's vaccines)

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/vaccine/vaccines.htm

[Treant]

224. So what?

There's toxic sodium in your table salt.

That's why it's a compound, not an element. Same here.

Even the valance state of an element can be important in determining toxicity, a la chromium.

In short, I'm more than educated enough on chemistry that simply saying the name of an element doesn't frighten me.

[Ms. Toad]

226. Because you made a comment about asking for extra mercury

which seemed to me to be poking fun at people who believe that thimerosal is no longer present in vaccines - or at least not in children's vaccines.

And, frankly, most of the people who make that claim do not understand that any multi-dose vial will include preservatives - generally one containing mercury.

[Treant]

228. Actually

I'm poking fun at the people who pretend to know anything about chemistry. And anti-vaxxers. I don't have any respect for either.

I'm also poking fun at people such as yourself, who think that waving the "mercury" flag is paramount to a "stop" sign. It isn't. Chemical compounds are not combinations of the elements that they contain; their characteristics are usually quite unique.

Vis a vis water, or explosive hydrogen and oxygen.

[Ms. Toad]

237. You are making assumptions about what I believe that are unwarranted.

I think it is important for people to know, and be able to make informed decisions. Propagating the myth that children's vaccines no longer have mercury in them takes away that right.

[Purveyor]

85. Just got mine this very afternoon. eom

[Little Star]

86. Got it today.

[albino65]

88. No public service OP goes unpunished

My wife and I get ours every year and are better off for it. I whine about it and she takes me to lunch. One of these days she'll catch on.

[Omaha Steve]

90. Frequently Asked Questions About Thimerosal

I only found out a few years ago I'm alergic to Thimerosal by accident.

IF you have ever had a red spot from any shot, ask for the non-Thimerosal version for any injection.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/thimerosal_faqs.html

On this Page
What is thimerosal? Is it the same as mercury?
What is the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury? How are they different?
Does thimerosal cause autism?
Is thimerosal safe for people?
Why was thimerosal removed from vaccines given to children?
Why is thimerosal used in some vaccines?
Do all flu vaccines contain thimerosal?
Why is thimerosal still in some flu vaccines that children may receive?
What keeps today’s childhood vaccines from becoming contaminated if they do not contain thimerosal as a preservative?
Was thimerosal used in all childhood vaccines?
How can I find out if thimerosal is in a vaccine?
How does thimerosal work in the body?
What are the possible side-effects of thimerosal?
Does thimerosal use in vaccines interfere with brain activity?
The Science
Other Helpful Resources

[Rainforestgoddess]

94. Excellent advice.

When I was a healthy young mom in my early 30's, I contracted influenza. I have never been so sick in my life. I was home alone with my kids when the fever hit. I emailed my mom and looking back at it, it was complete gibberish. I put the baby (about 4 months old at the time) into a jolly jumper to keep her safe and let the 5 year old watch her while I got myself into a tepid bath. My fever was 106. Scary. My dad came and got me and the kids.

Luckily, the kids didn't get it.

At the same time, a friend got it, and ended up with severe heart damage. He was also a healthy person in his 30's, and passed away from heart disease within 5 years of getting the flu.

Needless to say, I get my vaccination every year, and thinking your age or physical fitness level will protect you is willfully ignorant.

[laundry_queen]

166. + a million.

sorry you had to go through that. I know what it's like to be that sick with little kids at home. Not easy. I get my flu shot every year now too.

[littlemissmartypants]

195. And that immune system can turn on a dime. nt

[Rainforestgoddess]

199. Exactly

By anti vaxxer logic, I shouldn't get the vaccine because I rarely get sick. Everyone else in the house can have a bad cold, and I might get a slightly sore throat for a day. Obviously my immune system works just fine. But I'm not relying on that to protect me any more than I would tetanus, measles, polio etc. Yup, I keep up on all my vaccines. I'll talk to my doctor next visit about the shingles vaccine, I'm getting close to 50.

[SoapBox]

96. I'll be getting it soon...

Was actually just sick with some kind of weird non-flu...took a dose of a "Z Pack" and felt much better but want to make sure the crud is gone.

I never got them until just a few years ago and then (with Doc's consent) started getting them...when I'm at work, I might see 500-700 people in a day. The Doc thought that it best if I start getting the vaccine. I've never had an issue...had Mom (93!) just get hers too.

[Baitball Blogger]

101. Best to get it on a Friday.

And maybe take some over the counter pain relief drug before you take it. I got mine last Friday and I slept through Saturday because the arm pain bothered me too much to sleep the night before.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

102. Thanks for the reminder. I got the flu many years ago

and I thought I would have to get better in order to die. I was a very healthy 19-year-old and it knocked me flat on my ass. If that was any indication of how bad it can get, I have to figure if I got it now it might kill me. So I've been getting flu shots every year since they became available. People who think they don't need the vaccination because they are so healthy and "never get sick" might want to consider the fact that the Spanish flu epidemic mostly killed healthy young adults; some strains of flu cause what's called a cytokine storm in which a person's strong immune system is actually turned against them.

Seriously, don't mess with flu; I don't care how healthy you think you are.

[HockeyMom]

142. Once?

You only experienced something like that flu ONCE? lol Try multiple times as a child, teen, and young adult. What did people do BEFORE this vax and that vax. They put up with being sick and in PAIN. Another subject but people today cannot take pain either.

I don't have amnesia. I very remember very well what it is like. Get a shot? No.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

145. Hey, your choice. My choice is to try to avoid getting flu again.

And I can reduce that risk by getting a vaccination that does not harm me and costs me nothing. Sorry if you think I'm a wuss because I'd rather not get the flu again. As a kid I got measles, chicken pox, several bouts of strep, tonsillitis and scarlet fever; flu was much worse than any of these.

What did people do before vaccinations? A lot of times they died.

[Union Scribe]

158. Lol.

Thanks for once again putting on the record that you prefer that people suffer rather than trust medical science.

[wheniwasincongress]

104. They jab the needle into your arm

And you don't feel a thing. Incredible how needles have changed. I mean, they really do jab it into your arm violently like they're smacking a bug off you - and you feel nothing.

[HuckleB]

108. I got mine last week. Our son had his three weeks ago.

Now to get my wife hers.

[ladyVet]

120. I've only had the flu four times in my life.

Those were the four years I was in the USAF. I got a double dose of the swine flu vaccine a week apart in basic training, because they gave us "the wrong one". Sick as a dog all four times.

I never get the flu otherwise. I often wonder if I have some type of immunity due to my mother getting the Asiatic flu when she was pregnant with me (the winter of 1957/58). She was dreadfully sick, and her mother came to take care of her and ended up sick as well.

As far as I know, the only other vaccines I ever had were the polio one when I was a kid, and whatever they gave me in the military. I had the mumps and German measles as a child, but according to my mother, not chicken pox. All three of my kids had chicken pox, but I never got it.

I am not anti-vaccine. I think children have a lot more protection nowadays than we did as children. I think if you want to get the flu shot, do so. But try to understand that some folks don't want to, and our choice is a valid as yours. Most of my family gets the shot, as they have health issues (and one sister works in a lab, so she'd have to regardless of her feelings). And I'm happy they are able to have a flu shot.

[HuckleB]

155. Hogwash.

You need to dig into basic immunology. And you didn't get two shots because "you got the wrong one." You got two shots because that's what was required for that flu outbreak.

Cut the anti-vaccine crap.

[MineralMan]

193. I found my USAF immunization record a couple of year ago, and

looked at it. I was amazed at the number of immunizations I was given. I got an experimental cholera vaccine, one for typhoid, and even a two-shot series for the plague. That last one hurt like the dickens and I felt crappy for an entire day. I was in the USAF from 1965-9. They just lined us up and hit us in both arms with the injection guns.

The exotic ones I got were because I ended up being stationed at a remote base in Turkey.

[jimlup]

122. Done!

[DeadLetterOffice]

123. I get one yearly, have since I started working in health care twenty years ago.

And after my teenager got H1N1 back in 2009, he's gotten a flu shot every year too -- said he never ever wants to feel that awful again if he can help avoid it.

[madinmaryland]

125. I have never taken a flu vaccination. Not because I believe it will give me autism or some

other illness, it is because it is only designed to work against certain strains of influenza. So even if you get the vaccine, it does not guarantee that you will not get the flu.

My wife and mother-in-law, on the other had, cannot take it as they are both allergic to the ingredients, since it is chicken based.

[Tarheel_Dem]

127. Thanks for the reminder MM. They're free, here at work, but I'm a procrastinator.

[riverbendviewgal]

128. I always do

and have not had the flu since I have been getting them.

We have flu shot clinics in our area. and they are free. It is a nice social meet up too. In my town it is in the town's upstairs room of our ice arena.

[hunter]

131. I do. A 6'4" guy weighing in at 145 pounds in a hospital bed because of secondary infections...

... is not a pretty sight.

No matter that Halloween is imminent I choose to avoid that "skeleton man" look as best I can.

[elias49]

133. Got mine today. Free!

I was at my PCP for another issue and I saw they had a clinic set up for free shots. Hell yeah. Never used to when I was younger. Now I'm a grand-dad and my daughter's (premature) twins could be at risk this winter.
I'll get 2 if it helps!

[MineralMan]

134. Excellent!

[MissB]

135. I really don't like the flu shot.

Our employer runs flu clinics starting in September. When I went to one of the clinics last week, I asked for the flu mist. They were out.

I may have snarkily noted that I could only get the flu mist for a few more years and they just ruined this year's chance.

But I still got the flu shot. Always do. Always hate it though.

[Laffy Kat]

140. Oh, darn! I meant to today.

Totally spaced it out. We get it for free and our Kaiser is just about two miles from my house. Thanks for the reminder. Tomorrow FOR SURE.

[Mister Nightowl]

147. You mean, go against the advice of Dr. McCarthy!

[HockeyMom]

189. How old was Dr. McCarthy in the 1970s?

I guess I should not listened to her then either? I am old enough to be her MOTHER.

[Mister Nightowl]

220. Uh, I have a question, HockeyMom

You're n-not Sarah P-P-Palin are you???

[HockeyMom]

221. Nope

Maybe you should read my post on here what happened to me at 6 years old when I had Scarlet Fever. That changed how I felt about life forever. Nothing Dr. Jenny can say will ever come close to that.

[Mister Nightowl]

222. My apologies

Apparently, you thoght I was serious about McCarthy's idiotic anti-vaccine hysterics. I assure you I was being nothing but sarcastic. And, no, I don't really think that you're Sarah Youbetcha!

[bigwillq]

148. Just got mine today!

First time ever.

[MineralMan]

194. Outstanding!

[slipslidingaway]

152. Yes please, being selfish here but ...

having a spouse who has gone through a stem cell transplant for leukemia we would appreciate it

If not for yourself, then for the young, old and everyone in between.

We had ours a few weeks ago.

Thanks for the message

[brewens]

154. I always get one. Only once did I ever think it effected me right after. That time I had been to

the doctor for another reason and was offered one. I got it and really forgot I even did that. The next day at the gym, I was liftng and was pathetic! I had nothing! Then later at work I felt like I had just a touch of the achey chill type flu symptoms. Nothing really and I suppose it could have been caused by something else altogether. If that's the worst that can happen, so what? It dawned on me later in the day that it may have been the flu shot. In the ten years since. I've detected not even the slightest ill effect.

[gopiscrap]

156. Good advise

we got ours this past weekend.

[tandot]

157. We were planning for last weekend but my 5-year old got the the sniffles and was a bit congested

so, we are aiming for this weekend.

It is so important for everyone to get it. I just don't understand that people don't. Even if you don't get horribly sick from it, you can still pass it on to people with compromised immune system. How selfish can you be???

My son just started Kindergarten and there are two kids highly allergic to peanuts. I immediately changed my son's lunch menu. I'd never ever want to be responsible for someone's kid getting horribly sick or dying. How hard is it to just modify your way of doing things???

Pretty sad that people don't care about making other human beings sick

[littlemissmartypants]

197. I am not sure that it is the not caring about others that always drives

The no vax behaviors. I think it may be the caring more about one's self that is the tacks motivation.

[Union Scribe]

159. Done! Never heard of the higher dose one though.

The doc didn't specify so I imagine I got the normal one.

[Hekate]

165. Done yesterday

Didn't hurt a bit.

Thanks for reminding people, MinMan.

[Major Hogwash]

170. Nope, don't need it.

I haven't had the flu since I was in my early 20s.
I haven't even had a bad cold for over 15 years.
I haven't called in sick to work for over 20 years.
I don't even pay attention to the "flu season".

[B Calm]

173. Got my flu shot on Monday!

[RKP5637]

176. K&R! n/t

[peace13]

177. It is good to remember that some people do have reactions to this vaccine.

Thank you guys for getting the shot to keep those of us who can't a little safer!

[littlemissmartypants]

181. Thank you MineralMan.

Public health is a great idea and a cause of mine.

Herd immunity people!
Victim or vector.
You decide.
Flu kills.

Thanks again for your post.
Love, Peace and Shelter.
~ littlemissmartypants 🙅

[Sancho]

182. My family doc just told me he was already seeing flu here in Florida...

at any rate, my wife and I teach. We found out many years ago to get flu shots. They really work for us. Without flu vaccines, we often got the flu and it was miserable. Students from kindergarten to college are simply germ factories.

With flu shots, we usually don't get the flu at all. Even then it's much milder with the shots. I'm sure some people don't like vaccines of any kind, but I think they work for the flu.

[RKP5637]

183. See #55, I thought that was a pretty good video of flu risks, 50 million people dead, many young

and healthy. n/t

[840high]

198. Got my shot last

month at Walgreens.

[hedgehog]

201. Just wanted to mention here, the best way to protect us older folks is to make sure all the

children get their vaccinations. They are more likely to develop immunity from the shot and if they aren't vaccinated, they spread the virus to more people if they do get get sick.

My kids ended up with the flu back when they were pretty little. Nothing like seeing your kids' eyeballs turn red to alert you to the seriousness of the disease!

[MineralMan]

202. Yes. Kids, especially, need to be vaccinated.

They don't have any immune response from previous cases of the flu.

[closeupready]

204. You're not my doctor, so no, I won't be listening to someone on an IBB,

thanks, anyway.

[daleanime]

208. Already done....

happened to be at the VA the first day they were doing them, the nurse saw me and dragged me over.





They know how I am about sharp objects being poked in my body.

[riqster]

209. Done. Good thread.

[RiffRandell]

214. Got mine last week and so did our kids. nt

[ffr]

227. Be honest. Who got sick within a week of their flu shot booster?

Not trying to play gotcha, just wanting those who came down with something to share what it might have been, so we can benefit as a whole.

But here, just like clockwork, guess what? Four people sick at the office, all were part of the group of fourteen who got this year's flu shot booster the same day 10/03/14. Two couldn't make it into work Thursday and aren't coming in today either. I thought they were on vacation, until it was volunteered to me today that they were at home sick. The other two who appear to have colds, came into the office despite their obvious contagious appearance and Kleenex cluttering their waste bins. One says, she got it from her child. The other is the one who's just sick all the time, so I'm not sure she has an excuse. She starting coughing earlier on Tuesday anyway, so I kinda figured she'd be the first.

Coincidence, again?

Only those four are sick. All the rest who got the booster or didn't, aren't exhibiting signs of sickness; coughing, chills, runny nose...or I haven't noticed...and it's not my job to notice, but when you can hear the coughing and nose blowing, you just do.

As for me, I feel terrific! The weather's perfect, sunny and dry. A beautiful day, like any other. But as a favor to this thread, I'll post back if my situation changes sometime before Friday May 1, 2015 and let you know my results: flu or no flu and for how long, if any.

[ffr]

241. Another one down. He's in the midst of a bad cold.

For how long I don't know. He hasn't been in the office for much time since my last post, so I cannot say if he's been sick the whole time or just came down with it. Five out of fourteen so far. And just colds from what I can tell.

And thanks to him for sharing. Stay home already!

[ffr]

242. Five of those same people have been sick or are sick now.

Continuing with the tally; 8 out of 14 have contracted colds. No flu victims so far and zero illnesses from those who didn't get the flu shot booster.

However, three are sick now with colds, all flu booster recipients. One was sick a couple weeks ago and is sick again. One other was sick two weeks ago also. A couple of these same people got colds shortly after their booster shot. Doesn't appear to stop them from coming to work sick though.



I haven't witnessed any symptoms for those that didn't get the flu booster. I haven't contracted a cold or any sickness for that matter, nor have any of us non-boosters wound up contracting colds from those who came in sick with colds.

[ffr]

243. Four people sick with colds here.

One is the girl who is always sick. This is I think her third for fourth cold this Fall. Another is a repeat and two others who had taken the booster and who had not been sick so far are now, not thankfully showing up for work sick, which brings the tally to 10 out of 14.

Nothing better than an office full of people coughing germs about and loading their waste bins with mucus filled tissues days before we head out for a four day holiday...hopefully not incubating something they've passed to us in the closing hours prior to that.



Still haven't witnessed any symptoms for those that didn't get the flu booster and no changes in my health.

[ffr]

244. Skipped one additional layer, but many of those people have

moved on from their meer colds to bronchial hacking and runny noses. Thanks people! One's outside my office as I'm writing this coughing all over the copy machine, w/o even the care to cover her stupid mouth.

No other changes that I can observe.

[ffr]

245. It's worse than I imagined, but not influenza

This morning, that sick lady was talking, in between coughs, to another gal outside my office about her illness. She hasn't just come down with something, she's been in and out of the doctor's office since November she says, something that others around her confirmed to me yesterday. Can you imagine!? Sick for a month with a runny nose, sneezing, & coughing! Looks and sounds like a cold. But whatever it is, her immune system is helpless to dig itself out of the problem.

She puts it down to something along the lines of something similar to what one of her friends' husbands has. She thinks it's probably bad allergies and she's been taking the doctor's antibiotics for her illness. But if I'm not mistaken, antibiotics have no effect against colds & viruses.

I'd be more pissed today than ever if I hadn't recovered so quickly, but my nose started running heavily by yesterday afternoon and I blame this idiot of ill health. Fortunately getting outside of the office petri dish of germs, flushing my system out with mass quantities of water and vitamins, and getting an early night's rest was the miracle cure. Completely recovered today.

Oh freaking hell! She's walking and coughing down the corridor, spreading her germs as she goes.

[ffr]

246. It's amazing what you notice when you don't hear silence

The constant coughing hasn't subsided for those who got the flu shot. It's all over the map. The gal that's been sick since November and my boss have a persistent cough. Not as bad as it was a month ago, but they can't shack it. The boss's secretary, the gal that's sick all the time and has been sick like 3 or 4 times in my last post, has been sick twice more and is currently nursing a cold. One other gal is sick again too. Poor thing. She was one of the people who has to sit next to the November hacking lady, so I'll give her that excuse.

As far as I can tell, the people who didn't get this year's flu shot either haven't been sick or if they were, did so after days of exposure to others who didn't take it upon themselves to keep their sick butts at home. And other than my brief episode with a gushing runny nose while at the office that one day and almost immediate recovery once outside of it, I've been rock solid too.

[ffr]

247. Sickness dramas continue, this time it's over the top

The sick girl who's always sick thankfully took two days off from her openly contagious condition from last week. Today's she's back and still very sick, coughing openly and blowing her nose constantly.

One of our outside reps is in the office today and she's sick. I don't know if she's a flu-shot person or not. But I'd be curious.

And so much other open coughing outside my door it's making me think I should wear a face mask. It's Spring-like here. Why can't these people be more healthy and considerate to those of us who aren't sick and don't want to get sick?

Oh-oh she's back. Got rid of her. Ugh! So sick it's gross.

[distantearlywarning]

229. I was one of those who "never got the flu"

Never had a flu shot, never had a single case of the flu to my knowledge. I was very pleased with myself and never gave a moment's thought to my own moral responsibility with regard to herd immunity, possibly being an asymptomatic carrier, the vulnerabilities of babies and cancer patients, etc.

Then, in 2010, my husband and I took a trip to Paris over Christmas. We must have caught something in the airport. I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect it was H1N1. A few days after we came back, we both came down with the most horrific respiratory illness either of us have ever had. He was flat in bed for a week with a high fever, and then came down with a terrible sinus infection that took a month and several rounds of antibiotics to cure. He told me it was the first time he could viscerally understand how otherwise healthy people died of such things in the days before modern medicine.

I was less sick initially, but then ended up with a lingering cough that I just couldn't seem to shake. A month later I took myself back to the doctor, where I was diagnosed with cough-variant asthma for the first time, at age 36. I still remember how much better that first breathing treatment made me feel in the doctor's office - like an elephant had been removed from my chest. Four years later, I still carry an inhaler daily just in case, and I have a round of bad asthma for a week or two every time I get sick with a cold. Smoke and dust set me off too. In other words, the flu I was so smug about and sure I would never get gave me permanent asthma. My lungs are permanently damaged from that flu.

I now get my flu shot every year. I just got one last week, and my husband went with me. Now, because of my prior foolish short-sightedness about my own potential susceptibility to influenza, I HAVE to have a flu shot yearly, because I am in a high risk group.

The minority anti-vax sentiment in this thread is absolutely appalling. I confess I am a little shocked at how many DUers have come out of the woodwork about this tonight - I always think of liberals as being very pro-science, literate, rational, etc. Reading some of these conversations is like listening to fundies arguing about evolution. Yikes! I sincerely hope that anyone who is on the fence takes my (and others') cautionary tales to heart and gets a shot.

On Edit: Someone asked upthread who had gotten sick or had a reaction to a flu shot. I have never had a reaction to a flu shot, nor have I gotten sick after one. After this last one I didn't even have any arm soreness or anything. The guy who gave it to me (at Walgreens) was really good and the needle didn't even hurt. However, in the service of being completely honest, I had a terrible reaction to a Pertussis vaccine several years ago - bad enough that it was reported as an adverse event by my doctor's office. But what worries me about that is that they say pertussis immunity wears off after 8-10 years. I don't believe I will be able to have another pertussis shot, so I will have to rely on my fellow human beings to protect me from whooping cough via herd immunity...and judging from this thread there are quite a few who could give a shit about my health or the health of others who, like me, will be unable to be vaccinated (including tiny babies who are too young to have a TDAP shot).

[fadedrose]

231. My best winters started with my first flu shot

and have been getting them ever since. This week for sure..

I had every flu every year till then.

[arthritisR_US]

232. Sure, my Mum did Oct. 2012 she was dead

from the flu Jan. 2013, so go for it and get your shot. They are so very effective.

[Crunchy Frog]

234. It will help avoid lots of people with the flu

thinking that they're coming down with Ebola, and clogging up the ER's in their panic.

[JesterCS]

235. I've never gotten a flu shot

and I think I've had the actual Flu maybe twice in the past 15 years. Then again I'm a hermit and stay in my man-cave all the time lol

[AngryOldDem]

239. Got one this year for the first time.

And I've been fighting cold/flu symptoms ever since.

Never again.

[MineralMan]

240. Do you have a fever?

When did you get the flu shot and when did your symptoms start?

If no fever, then you probably have a cold, and the flu shot doesn't do anything to prevent colds.

If you have a fever, then you probably caught the flu before the immunization had time to take effect. It happens.

The flu shot cannot cause the flu. It contains no live flu virus.