Reply #20: Given the lack of [View All]

[SheilaT]

effectiveness of flu shots, much less than what is claimed, I'm personally convinced that healthy people, including young children, have no business getting a flu shot. Keep in mind that the immunity gained from getting the real thing is always better than that obtained from vaccinations.

And I suspect that in your grandmother's case, if she always gets sick after her flu shot, then it is triggering a case of flu in her. It would be very difficult to know for sure, since there isn't a simple instant blood test that can tell if you're already incubating flu. Now that would be a huge step forward, to be able to ascertain quickly and easily if you're already exposed.

Also, with young children, they are supposed to get lots of illnesses as they grow up. It's how the immune system develops. If it's not challenged enough, there are one set of problems, of which asthma is one, possibly other auto-immune disorders. If over-challenged, there are other problems, only I can't recall what they are. I learned about it listening to a book on tape about a year ago, and can't recall the specifics.

But what is clear is that over the course of a normal lifetime our body and our immune system responds to various challenges and develops. When very young we can recover from injuries that might cripple or kill an adult, and would surely be devastating to someone elderly. If the immune system is properly challenged in childhood, we reach adulthood able to resist all manner of diseases. Eventually, as we age, our immune system isn't as responsive, and of course we all die from something or another in the end.