DUers: have you gotten your flu shot this year?

[Avalux]

I know, I know; all of our minds are on the election. But just a friendly reminder to all of my fellow DUers out there -take some time and get your flu shot if you haven't already done so. Human Influenza is a communicative infectious disease caused by a virus that can kill thousands upon thousands of people each year if not controlled by vaccination. And for those of you who have reservations, please take the time to read this information from the CDC. Thank you and stay well! :grouphug:

October or November is the best time to get vaccinated, but you can still get vaccinated in December and later. Flu season can begin as early as October and last as late as May.

There are two types of vaccines:

* The "flu shot"—an inactivated vaccine (containing killed virus) that is given with a needle, usually in the arm. The flu shot is approved for
use in people older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.

* The nasal-spray flu vaccine—a vaccine made with live, weakened flu viruses that do not cause the flu (sometimes called LAIV for “Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine”). LAIV is approved for use in healthy people 5 years to 49 years of age who are not pregnant.

Each vaccine contains three influenza viruses-one A (H3N2) virus, one A (H1N1) virus, and one B virus. The viruses in the vaccine change each year based on international surveillance and scientists' estimations about which types and strains of viruses will circulate in a given year.

About 2 weeks after vaccination, antibodies that provide protection against influenza virus infection develop in the body.

In general, anyone who wants to reduce their chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated. However, it is recommended by ACIP that certain people should get vaccinated each year. They are either people who are at high risk of having serious flu complications or people who live with or care for those at high risk for serious complications. During flu seasons when vaccine supplies are limited or delayed, ACIP makes recommendations regarding priority groups for vaccination.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

*This link also provides a flu clinic locator and specific prescribing information for the flu shot and the nasal spray vaccination*

[Richard Steele]

1. Nope. I never get them.

The SHOTS, that is. I do sometimes get the flu;
maybe every third year or so.

[Avalux]

3. Do you mind if I ask why?

Maybe I should have started a poll. I am interested in the reasons people won't get vaccinated. :hi:

[cautiouslywaiting]

12. I never get one.

I get sick fairly often but I've only had the flu twice. I tend to get colds, not the flu.

[Richard Steele]

22. Well, as I said, I usually don't get the flu anyway.

When I do, it's rarely severe enough that OTC meds
can't deal with it. So, the flu vaccines just seem
unnecessary to me.

If I was one of the unfortunate folks who get laid
out by the flu for a week EVERY dang year, you better believe
I'd be first in line for the shot.

[Pithlet]

66. The same thing happened to me. Edit this was supposed to reply to #50

I got the shot that work was giving out for free. It was right before I went on vacation, too. Completely wrecked my trip. After tonsillitis and the chicken pox, it was the sickest I've ever been in my life. I pretty much spent the whole time in my hotel room miserable while everyone else had fun.

I know they say that there's no connection. But, it was so awful that I can't bring myself to do it again because on some level my mind equates that experience with the shot. My kids get vaccinated every year and are fine, but I still can't do it myself.

[Gruenemann]

50. The only time I ever got one it made me sick as hell

And I haven't had the flu since...hell, 35 years ago. I don't get colds either.

[Cronus Protagonist]

59. The flu vaccine gave me the worst flu of my life

And if it wasn't the vaccine, then I got was the flu, so the vaccine didn't work. Either way, it's safer not to get it.

[shanti]

20. nope, and i never have gotten one

i rarely catch viruses anymore, even colds. however, when i DO in that rare year, they are doozies!

[stopbush]

26. I've never had one, neither have my kids.

Can't remember the last time I had the flu.

[Maine-ah]

48. nope, I never get the shots either

I haven't had the flu since I was at least a teenager. My mom, she gets the damn shot every year, and every year she gets the flu. I refuse to get the shot just because of those two reasons.

[longship]

2. Never get a shot. Rarely, if ever, get the flu.

I'm 58 now, and I just don't remember when I last had the flu. It must be decades ago.

[Vinca]

4. There hasn't been a clinic in our area yet. Very strange.

I urge people to get them. I didn't until 4 or 5 years ago when I got a case of the flu so severe I hallucinated. I honestly thought I was dying. It was very, very scary.

[Avalux]

5. You can use the clinic locator at the CDC's site -

there may be one somewhere near you. By now, I'd think they'd have one set up. :hi:

[Vinca]

17. The local visiting nurse association usually runs them, but

from what I've gathered, the entire area has had a problem with getting the stuff delivered. Then one clinic for kids was cancelled because someone froze the vaccine, which makes it useless. I'm sure one will appear in the near future.

[Avalux]

19. Someone posted about Costco downthread -

if there's one near you, get it there. :hi:

[Vinca]

24. Thanks - there's no Costco, but another chain has them sometimes. nt

[qnr]

6. My spouse has, I'm waiting until the VA Flu clinic in November n/t

[Sherman A1]

7. Did so last Saturday

try to get one every year. Doesn't always keep me from getting something, but seems to lessen the impact. Working in Retail and dealing with the public daily, one has to have as much protection as possible (and the boss doesn't think a bio hazard suit fits the uniform look).

[Bluebear]

8. I'm getting mine Friday, thanks for the important reminder

[dkofos]

9. Never get a shot

never get the flu

I will let the the old or young have mine

[wicket]

10. Not yet, but I want to

I got the flu last season, and hadn't been that sick in a loooooooong time. It was horrible :(

[rubberducky]

11. Costco has them for $18.

Call for times and dates. You do not have to be a memeber to get them. Thank you for posting this!! IMHO it is important to get the shot!

[Avalux]

16. Thanks for the info -

that's a good price. Just doing my public duty as a healthcare professional (spec. infectious diseases). :hi:

[wildeyed]

13. Thanks for the reminder.

I just called to make an appointment for my little ones. Costco is doing flu shot clinics this year, so I might stop by there to get mine.

[razors edge]

14. I don't trust doctors.

my GF is an RN and the horror stories only back up my distrust.

Besides, you see a lot more old drunks than you do old doctors.

:evilgrin:

[Avalux]

21. Well, viruses don't care much about doctors.

They do their own thing, and their goal is to infect as many people as possible. ;-)

[verse18]

15. I work in a pediatric hospital

so we get a free flu shot every season. We're scheduled for Oct 30, which is later in the month than usual.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

75. New company I'm working for is having a flu shot clinic on Monday

at work. We get them as a benefit for free (guess they figure less time out being sick = more productivity, though a lot of people are hacking their asses off already).

[Reciprocity]

18. I think people are equating a cold with Influenza.

I have had both and there is no comparison. The colds I get make me feel like shit but I can still function. When I contracted Influenza, I got out of bed to go to work. I had a sore throat and felt kind of yucky. By noon I was bed ridden. It hit that fast. I have never been so sick.

The flu shot will not keep you from getting a cold but is 90% accurate for preventing Influenza.

So you bet I take the flu shot!

[LostinVA]

60. Me too

My mom and sister are nurses, and they always talk about how people say they -- or their kids -- have the flue, when all they have is a cold. A cold sucks, but the flu literally makes you bed ridden, like you said. Someone on this thread said that OTC meds take care of them and they can function -- that's a bad cold, not the flu.

I used to get the flu every year because I'm in contact with the public alot -- but not since I started the shot 8 years ago.

[Milo_Bloom]

23. Wouldn't touch that shot with a 10 foot pole

I don't trust most of the vaccines in our current corporate society and this one least of all (especially since they rarely get the strain right to begin with).

[tammywammy]

25. No, and I won't be getting one either

A few years ago, I did get the shot and I got the flu that year.

I regularly wash my hands, and my immune system is healthy.

If I get it, I get it, but since I'm only 26 I'm not too worried.

[Greyhound]

27. Never have, unlikely I ever will. n/t

[RB TexLa]

28. aren't they for people past a certain age or those with certain health

conditions? The general public isn't supposed to get one are they? I get the flu or something like it about every other year, a few days of feeling bad and a high fever and that's it.

[Avalux]

36. Certain groups are priority -

like children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems; they come first when the vaccine is in short supply. This year there's plenty, so it's recommended everyone get it. It's not just whether you get a bad case of the flu - you may pass it on to someone else. It's all about controlling the spread. :hi:

[LostinVA]

56. Yes, the shot is for the general public, not at-risk demos only

[azmouse]

29. I've never had the flu so I don't bother with the shot.

Maybe when I'm older I'll consider the shot when the effects of the flu (should I ever get it) would be much worse.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

30. I haven't gotten mine yet, my dear sparosnare............

But I will........and thank you for the reminder!

I rarely get the flu, but at my age (62), it is important to get the shot!

:hi:

[Avalux]

38. You're welcome and good for you -

I posted this because in my line of work, I've seen what influenza can do. :hug:

[acmejack]

31. Thanks for reminding me, SS.

I might have spaced it.

[onecent]

32. Never will get one. Ingredients in those shots include some

mighty unusual ingredients, IMO.

[Quantess]

33. I don't bother.

Plus, aren't healthy young adults supposed to be gracious and let the children and seniors get first dibs?

I've had flu shots before, and they didn't seem to make any difference either way. I'd rather spend the $20 on fruits and vegetables.

[Solon]

34. Right now, I'm recovering from the flu...

For the past few days, I was dizzy, hurt all over, like I ran a marathon and was beaten with baseball bats at the finish line, and I had pretty bad diarreha for the past couple of days. Now that the worst is behind me, I figured I'm inoculated from getting it for the rest of the year. I usually only get sick when the seasons change, around Spring and Fall, rather than in the Winter or Summer.

[hlthe2b]

35. Yup.... along with the new Tdap booster...

If you haven't had your tetanus booster recently and you are between the ages of 10 and 64, this combined vaccine offers the benefit of pertussis (whooping cough--no not the old vaccine that caused problems on rare occasion long ago). Adults and adolescents have no immunity to pertussis from 5-10 years following your last childhood dose and the chronic cough it causes can last anywhere from 2 weeks to several months & can be extremely severe. Until recently, there was no way to booster immunity in older children and adults. Since we (adults and adolescents) are the source (typically) for the youngest among us-- who are too young to have developed immunity from their primary vaccines--it is important that we do so. Pertussis does kill very young children and the average parent looses $3500 from lost time from work when their child is infected--not to mention health care costs.

(Tdap stands for tetanus, diptheria, and acellular pertussis)

[Lance_Boyle]

43. Yup. You gotta get 'em that dip-tet.

<snort>

[MrSlayer]

37. No, I never get one.

And I never get the flu. Why would I voluntarily introduce the flu or whatever the hell is in that needle into my system? Everyone I know who gets one gets sick off of it. I never take antibiotics or any of that stuff either. My immune system is very strong because of it. I get sick once every five years or so, can't remember the last time.

[novalib]

39. When I Can Afford To!!!

It's gonna cost me $25.00 -- 25 FUCKING DOLLARS -- just for one flu shot!!!

This country is SO FUCKED UP!!

I guess I'll have to wait until I have $25.00 to give to the bloodsucking fucking medical establishment!

[novalib]

40. self-delete

I don't know why this was double-posted.

Sorry!

[Catherine Vincent]

41. I have never had the shot. Or the flu.

I used to get a yearly cold in the past but that's been a while. I guess I'll start getting the shots when I turn 50. Now I hope I don't jinx myself.

[RevCheesehead]

42. I was told they're not available until November.

Apparently, they're hoping that by delaying the shot, fewer people will want it and they won't run out.

Yup. I was shocked, but it came straight from my doctor's office.

[LostinVA]

57. They have a huge inventor of vaccine this year

There's no way they'll run out.

Per the two nurses in my family (mom and sister).

[MODemocrat]

44. Yes, both my husband and I got ours about 10 days ago

At our advanced age, it would be foolish not to have them. We have enough problems without getting the
flu. To each his own, however.
Thanks for the reminder :hi:

[Caoimhe]

45. Yes, my employer provides it

and two nurses come down and do it right in the break room. Super simple. I've had one every year for probably 8 years and haven't had the flu in that time.

Only downside, my arm gets kindof sore and the first night after it wakes me up if I lay on that side.

To be honest, I don't understand why people are so afraid of vaccinations. Imagine how excited our ancestors would have been to have had the option?

Nearly a third to half of all babies born in the USA in 1900 never saw their 5th birthday. Whooping cough, dyphtheria, and both rheumatic fever and scarlet fever (strep throat gone really serious) were major killers. Many women died from 'childbirth fever' (a vaginal strep infection). Walk around any old cemetery.

I've had the flu so bad that I fainted and fell down while trying to get to the bathroom, injuring myself. It's just no fun and I don't need the grief, and don't get enough time off as it is. Don't want to waste it on laying in bed drinking and puking up clear fluids or the pain of knowing you've passed it on to someone else.

[DinahMoeHum]

46. Same situation here.

n/t

[nedbal]

85. Same here

[Patiod]

47. We can get them free at work

We're scheduled to get them Nov 2.

My dad has emphysema and my mom has asthma, so I make SURE I get innoculated.

[foreverdem]

92. My employer gives it every year for free

I've only had the flu once, but that once was miserable enough to make me get the shot every year.

[Bridget Burke]

49. Yup.

Flu shots are free at work. However, they ran out. More vaccine expected soon.

I wonder how many people who say "I can stand a sore throat & a couple of days sick" REALLY had influenza. I've only had the flu a couple of times, but it's far different from That Cold That Goes Around Every Winter.

[Reciprocity]

52. I was trying to make the same point. A cold and influenza are different.

The viruses that cause common cold and influenza are different.

Practically everybody, no matter how healthy, will come down with a cold at least once during his or her lifetime. However, people who have asthma and underlying respiratory diseases such as bronchitis or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) face the risk of additional complications with viral respiratory diseases.

As with the common cold, everybody will catch the 'flu sooner or later. Those who are healthy to begin with will simply suffer a week or so of debilitation.

However, influenza can become severe, even fatal for those who fall into the high-risk group. This group includes those who suffer from chronic lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, or cystic fibrosis; those with heart or chronic kidney disease, or chronic metabolic disorder such as diabetes; anaemics; those who are immunocompromised because of disease or medical treatment; and senior citizens, especially those residing in health care facilities.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1032102

[Avalux]

58. An important consideration also -

even if you think you can weather the flu without complications, it's possible you could spread it to others who may not. :hi:

[fudge stripe cookays]

83. Thanks for the link, Rec

I never used to get flu shots.

But after reading all the extra info about how serious it is (ending my first year with MS), I better go get a shot.

[RB TexLa]

87. The high fever is the kicker

but if you have it high for a few days, you get the great hallucinate type dreams. I had one last year that did that, it's pretty cool.

[Bridget Burke]

88. I was a kid when I first had the Real Flu

Probably during the Asian Flu epidemic of 1957-58. They treated it with Paregoric, called "camphorated tincture of opium" according to Wikipedia.

Talk about Dreams!

[undergroundpanther]

51. My doc is nailing me soon,

I feel like I'm mutating into a pine tree I have gotten so many needles from her, It feels like going to see the doc is like going quail hunting with cheney I get so many shots when I go in there..(smirk)

Yeah I'm getting flu shot and next step in the Hep B series. Fun. Yeeeowch!

[cboy4]

62. Your subject line is a little misleading!

;)

[Nicole]

53. Not yet but I will get flu & pneumonia shots next week.

I'm often the caregiver for elderly family members. I don't want to risk infecting them with the virus.


The pneumonia shot is good for 5 years, this will be my 2nd time getting it.

[bigwillq]

54. No. I have never gotten a flu shot.

Don't plan on getting one this year either.

[LostinVA]

55. Got it today,as a matter of fact!

[cboy4]

61. The better question might be why does a nation like this have a shortage

of flu vaccine?!?!? It's ridiculous.

I don't get one because I'm relatively young....

I figure it's more important that seniors and kids get theirs before me.

[Reciprocity]

65. This is just my opinion but....

The cost/profit ratio is slim, so US companies don't want to make the vaccine.

[cboy4]

70. I believe you're correct....but my question was rhetorical . . .

There should be NO reason why there is a shortage.

Whatever the true reason is, there is a fix somewhere.

[RobertSeattle]

63. Yep - last night at Safeway!

[Connie_Corleone]

64. Haven't had once since I was a kid...

I got sick the last time I had a flu shot.

[Pithlet]

67. I'm trying to talk myself into it.

I posted upthread about it. I got a flu shot from work a few years ago, and got very sick. It was so bad that I've never been able to talk myself into it again. Every year I think about it. My kids get the shot every year, though.

[Avalux]

68. You may not want to hear this.

But speaking as a scientist, it's impossible to get the flu from the vaccine, which only contains parts of the virus. I know that doesn't take away from what you experienced, but you might want to try again. :hi:

[Pithlet]

69. I know. I've heard that a lot.

I always believed it, and when I heard people say "I got sick when I got the shot" I'd tell them what you told me. I'm not certain that the shot is what made me so sick, but I'm not absolutely certain anymore that it wasn't. I never get sick like I did that time. And I've had one doctor tell me it could have been the shot. I discussed it with my kids' pediatrician, and when I said "I know it's not rational, because it's impossible", he said that wasn't necessarily true. He said "I bet it was a free shot from your workplace, wasn't it?" When I said yes, he told me that there is a particular type of flu vaccine that can make a small number of people sick, and that type is typically what companies will use for their employees. He told me to go through my own doctor instead, and to ask for a particular type flue vaccine, and I wish I'd written it down.

[Pithlet]

71. I want to add that I don't want to scare anyone away from the shot.

I still think they're a good idea, and now I'm afraid I might have convinced someone on the fence that they'll skip it. I don't know that the shot made me sick. My reluctance to getting one for myself not one based on logic or reason. The odds of getting sick from a flu vaccine, if it's even possible, is probably very, very small.

[Avalux]

79. I don't think you scared anyone.

And I would suggest you get one this year only if you feel up to it. :hug:

[Bridget Burke]

91. Please--get more information on "special" flu shots from your doctor.

That's news to me. Companies don't inoculate their employees out of the kindness of their corporate hearts--they want to reduce absenteeism. I doubt they'd use a vaccine that made people sick. Of course, your doc will make more money if you pay him!

Certain people CAN have a reaction to the shots. He should have investigated whether or not you are vulnerable; it's not a random thing. Of course, you could have been exposed to the flu earlier; the vaccine takes a week or 2 to start working.

[Pithlet]

93. Well, this wasn't my doctor.

Which is why he probably didn't investigate my own particular needs further. If I choose to pursue it with my own doctor, I'm sure I'll ask him to evaluate me to determine what's best. He was just responding casually to my statement that I knew it was impossible to get sick from the flu shot, but that I was still scared to get one.

And I don't think the pediatrician that told me this meant that vaccines from employers will make everyone sick. I'm well aware of why employers inoculate their employees, and regardless of the reason I'm glad they do it. I'm definitely not an anti-vaccine nut. I think he meant that the particular type is more likely to make those vulnerable sick. I'm being too general because I don't remember the specifics.

[in_cog_ni_to]

72. Nope. Never have and never will.

I take medicine ONLY if I am forced to. I rarely get sick. I had a cold about a month ago and that was the first cold I've had in YEARS.

[recoveringrepublican]

73. Getting mine on my birthday. nt

[mantis49]

74. Got mine today. n/t

[Justice Is Comin]

76. Always get the flu shot for the last ten plus years,

but you'd have to chase me through cornfields to give me the smallpox vaccination.

I get the feeling like I have a basketball under my armpit. I had to get that in the AF, but they will never give me another one.

[lavenderdiva]

77. last year was the 1st year that I got a flu shot...

and I didn't get sick from the flu or even a cold all season. Up to that point, I had always gotten the flu each and every year! ugh. I had tried to get the flu shot the previous year, in 2004, but that was the year that the flu shot shortages were so severe.

Since I had such a great reaction to the shot last year, I was there on the first day Costco offered the flu shots this year, and got mine. I don't want to get sick this year-

[Scout1071]

78. I got one this morning.

First time I can recall ever getting a flu shot. My coworker got one as well.

[SPKrazy]

80. I'll Get Mine Tomorrow

although I learned today that they really only last 90 days so it may be a little early for some parts of the country

but I'm getting mine tomorrow at work

[Jcrowley]

81. Nope

Haven't had the shot since I was a teen, if then can't really remember. haven't had the flu since then either. Drawing no correlation here, just sayin'. I'm doubtful as to the efficacy of the flu vaccine. I would be interested to see studies as to how people, particularly the elderly, fared after going into an extended program of building their immune systems starting with major dietary changes.

Medically this is a ridiculous notion about the flu.They can't cure it, but they can innoculate for it? Every other innoculation that has come down the pike is derived from one simple fact. They had discovered what caused the illness in the first place and the vaccine was based upon triggering anti-bodies within the immune system to identify and resist the agent of pathogen. Not so with flu vaccines. Although they CLAIM to base it on the same science as other successful vaccines, it is scarcely the case. This is a virus that mutates and adapts faster than a vaccine can even be created. Next to the cockroach, the flu virus would probably be one of the only survivors of nuclear radiation. The flu vaccine is a shot in the dark. Build the immune system.

[GreenTea]

82. Never ever get one, never will! And I NEVER get sick! Government

and AMA bullshit! - I don't trust them for a moment what they put in their shit!

[undergroundpanther]

84. I've only had one.

Haven't gotten any flu.

It didn't do a damn thing for tonsillitis.
I had to get my tonsils out to fix that.. Go figure.

I go for the needle,
My doc is cool and she's a real fighter,she is a dissident,doctor because her defending of patients and their medical safety has gotten her black balled by the asshole hospital administrators out here,because she actually saved someone's life by disregarding what a superior doctor ordered,So I admire her moxie and independance. All her patients including me,think she kicks ass. She saved my aunt's life because she caught her breast cancer before the assholes over at the hospital did, because She knows her shit. I asked her about flu shots because I was paranoid of them too, She told me she is careful, she orders the kind without mercury preservatives, she let me read the pack,and she told me doesn't give people the nose spray flu vaccine because it is loaded with nasty stuff, like ALOT of mercury.And she told me it's also less effective,as a vaccine and it has more side effects than a shot and it's just not good enough for her to put her clients at risk with that crap..She has a way of being blunt that sometimes is hilarious to me.

[Desertrose]

86. I don't trust those guys either...

I never get sick and am not about to get a shot to prevent something that can be prevented other ways.

DR

[terrya]

89. I got my flu shot a few weeks ago.

They were offering them here at work.

I feel so good about doing that. :-)

:hi:

[RebelOne]

90. I stay away from any kind of shots. Don't like needles.

Plus I don't trust the flu shots. I would be one of those who become sick from the shot.

[Dorian Gray]

94. Nope...

I have never gotten a flu shot, and I haven't had the flu since I was a teenager. (Over twenty years.) There are studies done that have linked repeated flu vaccinations with early onset of Alzheimer's. (According to my nutritionist and their health center.) I don't know if that is quite true, but I'm wary of getting a vaccine for an illness that I haven't gotten since I was a child.

[fhqwhgads]

95. wasn't going to, but...

...my father, who's a physician, insisted that i do so. luckily, my company is offering free vaccinations in a couple of weeks.