Have you ever had a flu vaccination?

[kick-ass-bob]

I have not. But I am a very healthy person in my early 30's, so I'm not a high risk person.

[soothsayer]

1. I voted 'other'----HELL no! Just can't bring myself to trust it.

[kick-ass-bob]

5. why is it not trustworthy?

:shrug:

[soothsayer]

18. because I'm a paranoid tinfoiler sometimes. wah!

I always figure they're going to slip something in there to unwittingly test on the population, then we'll learn about it 20 years from now.

[kick-ass-bob]

24. aaaah - I see, you're one of THOSE people!!

:silly:

:hi:

[soothsayer]

26. sadly

it's twoo!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

2. And it was the only year I got the flu.

:shrug:

[kick-ass-bob]

4. I've heard someone else say that to me before...

odd.

I have heard that they pick certain strains to vaccinate against based on what they think will spread this year - and sometimes they get it wrong (or you may have caught a fluke one) - but I'm no expert...
:shrug:

[Kellanved]

7. well, there is not just one "flu"

AFAIR the WHO tries to identify the strains most likely to cause a major outbreak and recommends the manufacturers to include those in the vaccine.

[Maddy McCall]

15. Then you had probably been exposed before you got the shot.

That's what happened to me.

[kslib]

19. Nice link jchild!

I just got a "choice" hoodie. Wish I had a baby in the family so I could get the "choice" onesy!

:headbang:

[luaneryder]

3. I get one b/o having chronic illness

but even when I was very healthy I had a flu like reaction to the shot. I'm always a bit nervous about taking it.

[kick-ass-bob]

10. I've had the flu 3 times in my life:

on my 18th birthday (yuck!!)
when I was a freshman in college
and about 5 years ago.

It just doesn't seem worth it to me - especially since I am healthy *knock on wood*

[Tom_Foolery]

16. Same thing happened to me...

I thought I was going to die, so I don't get flu shots any longer.

[klook]

6. I usually get one, but not this year

The CDC has some common-sense guidelines for why those not at risk should skip the flu shot this year, so little kids, old folks, and other priority groups will be able to get theirs.

[amandae]

9. I'm with you

We're skipping it this year because my youngest is now over 2 (last year he wasn't) and everyone here is pretty healthy. We're not in any of the priority groups. I'd hate to go and get it for us all and then have a shortage for people who really need it (people like my mother who is diabetic, for example).

:hi:

[kick-ass-bob]

11. I was going to get one this year

because my insurance was going to have them available for free.
Then, they said there was a shortage (isn't there always, it seems?) so I will pass.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Yes. I have child with asthma

It is standard practice not only to vaccinate an asthmatic child but also those who have close contact with him to minimize the possibility of exposing him to the flu.

[Dora]

12. Yes - but not every year

I was vaccinated the year I was getting married because I didn't want to risk the flu in the weeks before the wedding. I've also twice had shots because they were paid for by my employer. This year, I'm considered "high risk" because I'm pregnant, so I'm going to county vaccination clinic today to wait my turn for the needle.

I think the need for flu vaccinations is exaggerated, but all these hinky avian flus coming out of Asia do kind of give me the creeps. It bothers me more that researchers are messing with the 1918 flu virus genes.

I never should have read The Stand.

[Skittles]

13. yes

many years ago I got the flu and was so ill I was briefly hospitalized. I've been taking the shots ever since. I'm not going to do it this year because I don't want the feeling I could be taking the place of a baby or elderly person or chronically ill person who I know should get them first. I am fairly healthy and will take my chances this year.

[Bridget Burke]

14. Yes.

As an adult, I had the flu once, years ago. I was really sick for a couple of weeks. The flu is not that bad cold that goes around the office. It is not "stomach flu"--which could actually be food poisoning.

The vaccine is offered free at work, so I gladly took it. This year, others need it more than I do.

[MissMillie]

17. Only once

last year.

I will probably not try to get one this year, as supply is low and I wouldn't want to take it away from someone else more needy (despite the fact that my recent surgery makes me very wary about getting the flu).

[skygazer]

20. I used to every year

I got the flu very badly in the winter of 1989 and it turned to pneumonia. I was hospitalized for a week and wound up with asthma which made it hard for my lungs to completely heal.

That spring, when the weather (Vermont) became cool and damp, I got pneumonia again and for the next five years, I got pneumonia like clockwork, spring and fall, in the cool and damp weather. Because my lungs couldn't properly heal, I was susceptible to both flu and pneumonia.

I got the pneumonia shot which is a one time shot but I also got the flu shot every year on the advice of my doc. When I moved to Cal, the asthma cleared up - it's very mild now - and I haven't gotten pneumonia in 6 years. Or the flu. So I don't bother anymore.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Yes. People With MS Can't Let Themselves Get The Flu

I will do anything i can to moderate and stabilize my immune system.
The Professor

[ismnotwasm]

22. My husband has MS

We both get flu shots every year. I work in health care also. BUT, I have never, ever, had the flu, vaccine or no. Don't know why

[ProfessorGAC]

28. Tell Your Husband To Take Care

And to take care of you! There can be no surrender! If one surrenders to the illness, it will get you even moreso.
The Professor

[ismnotwasm]

31. You BET!!!

We fight the good fight. That man is the strongest person I've ever met in my life, he refuses to give in, even when that disease tries to take him, inch by inch. He's my absolute hero. And, back at you, Professor! No surrender!

[kick-ass-bob]

23. You have MS?

How are you doing with it? My grandmother had it - developed (or showed itself) when I was a kid.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Yes I Do

For 9 and a half years. I'm doing ok overall. My baseline has essentially remained unchanged since i went on Betaseron. I'm having a VERY bad week, this week. Burning and electric shock feeling in the lower half of my legs is SEVERE!. And, i've got a tightness and sharp pains in my hips. But, if the past is any indicator, when it subsides, i'll be back about where i've been the whole time. Fingers crossed.
The Professor

[kick-ass-bob]

29. Well, good luck to you.

I know how rough it can be.

:hug:

[Phillycat]

35. Hey, Professor.

There is a discussion going on right now in GD:2004 where people are speculating about if the Chimp possibly has MS. Do his symptoms (palsy-like facial stuff, bloat, weight gain, dementia, etc) fit with your understanding of the disease?

[ProfessorGAC]

36. No, I Don't Recognize Any Of His Issues As MS

Dementia is very rare in MS. Cognitive disabilities have been identified, but usually not in onset or in the cerebellar or relapse/remitting forms. It's more commonly seen in Primary or Secondary Progressive states.

I know NO MS patients that experienced bloating and weight gain is more associated with the inability to be as physically active. It's not drastic and is slow in developing like any other slow weight gain associated with inactivity.

The palsy-like facial things are unlike anything i've experienced, and from my reading, i don't think that's a well established symptom either. Eye disturbances, (wandering, lack of focus, etc.) are very common, as is mandibular pain. When that happens, it can make one wince, but there would be no mistaking the difference between a pain-induced wince and what you're talking about.

So, i don't think that's what's wrong.
The Professor

[miss_kitty]

25. NO never had one. Probably never will

It's a scam. A couple of vaccine manufacturers make assloads of money off of the gov't. And the way manufacture occurs-well look what happens when ONE COMPANY fails-all eggs-one basket? Pretty much. Then the widespread madia-fueled panic ensues. Two weeks ago it was "Everybody! Get your shot! Get your shot!" Now it's "Whoa dude-you don't really NEED a shot unless you are old, young or chronically ill, or work in health care"

I had the flu when I was 8 and have never had it since. I'll keep my hands washed and fingers crossed.

[donheld]

30. Yes i took on for a few years

it seems i always go sicker when i took the shot then when i didn't

[WoodrowFan]

32. yes, seems to help

I do most years and it seems to help. I always catch it twice during flu season and it's much, much milder if I have had the shot. The one year I didn't I got pneumonia and a lung was damaged. Now I'm supposed to get it every year.

[Merrick]

33. No. Its the only way to guarantee getting the flu

assuming its not a deactivated (vs an attenuated - live vaccine). Everyone I know who gets usually experiences flu-like symptoms for a couple of days afterward. Meanwhile, I've never got the vaccine and have had the flu once in the past ten years. so why would I want to stand in line to guarantee feeling sick for a couple days just to avoid a 10% chance of contracting a somewhat more severe case later that, as a healthy young person, would hardly kill me? Its been offered for me free at work, and I always decline, then enjoy myself that much more later that night when I realize I could've been home shivering in bed.

[politicat]

34. I got them every year from 19904 to 2002.

I was working in an institutionalized setting, so reducing the risk of disease was a very good idea.

I never had a reaction to the vaccine and the one time I had the flu was during the summer of 2000 and not related to the 1999-2000 flu.

Pcat