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Flu shots? For them or against ?

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Replies

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    I used to get one every year because I am mildly immunosuppressed (no spleen) but I would then get a fever and the flu within a few days. I found I would rather risk not getting the flu or getting the flu, and being a bit sicker for maybe a day or too longer, rather than guaranteeing myself a sickness.

    For me, I skip the flu shot. Just a personal choice.
    You can't get the flu from the shot rhough

    A fever and flu-like symptoms are an uncommon side effect of the vaccine. It is not flu, but the immune response to the vaccine can make you feel ill.

    I'm for the vaccine unless contraindicated.

    Personally, I get it every year because it's a condition of my employment. Every year, I end up with a swollen and sore shoulder for about a week after getting the shot because I'm sensitive to thimerosal and somehow the thimerosal-free vaccines are never available when and where I get mine.

    I also get the fever and mild flu symptoms shortly after and, lucky me, I've had a cold within a month of getting the vaccine every year since I started This'll be my 10th. A PI I work with observed that my immune response to the vaccine is excessive, possibly because of the secondary insult from thimerosal and may be leaving me susceptible to illness for a couple of weeks after. Who knows. Since there's always colds going through the office, it's not too great a surprise that I catch it.

    My general opinion is not improved by that I've been thoroughly educated on the relatively poor seroconversion of many years' flu vaccines so feel like I'm having these symptoms for little chance of personal benefit.

    If I were >= 60, I'd be sure to get one every year, job requirement or no. The seroconversion rates are just above abysmal for that age group, but the complication risk for flu is so very high any chance that I'd be protected would be worth it.
  • 25lbsorbust
    25lbsorbust Posts: 225 Member
    I get one every year.
    I'm a strong believer in pack immunity, and the science behind the flu shot. And considering I don't have tons of PTO if I do get sick, if getting the shot puts me that much less at risk to wind up with the flu I will happily take it! Even if it does nothing, I'm willing to take that chance.

    My shoulder hurts for a few days after, but I can still work with a hurt shoulder. With the flu, however..
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    DeficitDuchess wrote: »
    GetFitKTB wrote: »
    It's very simple. The flu (Influenza) is caused by a virus. No amount of working out, or eating this or that is going to protect you from a virus. Unless you are a newborn, everyone has had the flu before. They might not know it, they might have mistaken it for a bad cold, but like the common cold, no one is immune from it, so, in my opinion, it only makes sense to get the flu shot. Why take a chance on getting sick if you can avoid it? JMO.

    I disagree, if you survive a strain of something severe; it's possible to build an immunity to it, less severe strains & to other illnesses also! A perfect example is the Bubonic Plague, those that survived it passed along an immunity to AIDS; to their decedents via Delta 32!

    Immunizations are the technological equivalence of passing immunity to a larger population. There is no legitimate argument against it unless you believe in non-intervention.

    1. Bubonic plague is bacterial (Yersinia pestis) - not viral and easily resolved with antibiotics.
    2. No one is immune to AIDS

    About the AIDS thing. I have an online friend who has AIDS and an autoimmune disease (AIDS came first). The human body is very complex

    AIDS is not a result of HIV (as the masses understand).

    I cannot remember the PhD, but he was demonized in the 90's with his groundbreaking work in AIDS research. He hypothesized that AIDS was not due to HIV onset, but due to an over-stimulation of receptor sites aggravated by years of drug overuse. He was absolutely correct and many people diagnosed did not contract HIV. Five of the eight HIV vaccines in use today are a direct result from his research.

    How did this doctor explain AIDS in people who never used drugs or used them rarely? And what do you mean when you say many people diagnosed never contracted HIV? They were diagnosed as HIV positive, but never contracted HIV? Or did you mean that many people who are HIV Positive have not contracted AIDS?

    I don't remember any discussion on this. I only remember his presentation at a virology summit in the mid '90s and a demographic review which showed many of the subjects diagnosed with AIDS were frequent drug users. He showed that many of these subjects did not have HIV or AIDS. While he was on the wrong track his researched helped evolve a more accurate diagnostic device.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    DeficitDuchess wrote: »
    GetFitKTB wrote: »
    It's very simple. The flu (Influenza) is caused by a virus. No amount of working out, or eating this or that is going to protect you from a virus. Unless you are a newborn, everyone has had the flu before. They might not know it, they might have mistaken it for a bad cold, but like the common cold, no one is immune from it, so, in my opinion, it only makes sense to get the flu shot. Why take a chance on getting sick if you can avoid it? JMO.

    I disagree, if you survive a strain of something severe; it's possible to build an immunity to it, less severe strains & to other illnesses also! A perfect example is the Bubonic Plague, those that survived it passed along an immunity to AIDS; to their decedents via Delta 32!

    Immunizations are the technological equivalence of passing immunity to a larger population. There is no legitimate argument against it unless you believe in non-intervention.

    1. Bubonic plague is bacterial (Yersinia pestis) - not viral and easily resolved with antibiotics.
    2. No one is immune to AIDS

    About the AIDS thing. I have an online friend who has AIDS and an autoimmune disease (AIDS came first). The human body is very complex

    AIDS is not a result of HIV (as the masses understand).

    I cannot remember the PhD, but he was demonized in the 90's with his groundbreaking work in AIDS research. He hypothesized that AIDS was not due to HIV onset, but due to an over-stimulation of receptor sites aggravated by years of drug overuse. He was absolutely correct and many people diagnosed did not contract HIV. Five of the eight HIV vaccines in use today are a direct result from his research.

    How did this doctor explain AIDS in people who never used drugs or used them rarely? And what do you mean when you say many people diagnosed never contracted HIV? They were diagnosed as HIV positive, but never contracted HIV? Or did you mean that many people who are HIV Positive have not contracted AIDS?

    I don't remember any discussion on this. I only remember his presentation at a virology summit in the mid '90s and a demographic review which showed many of the subjects diagnosed with AIDS were frequent drug users. He showed that many of these subjects did not have HIV or AIDS. While he was on the wrong track his researched helped evolve a more accurate diagnostic device.

    The idea that AIDS is related to drug use is a popular one in the HIV/AIDS denial community (it sounds as if this doctor may be a part of it). But it fails to account for the millions among the 35 million who have died of AIDS who didn't use drugs or used them rarely.
  • biggsterjackster
    biggsterjackster Posts: 419 Member
    Against it. Only had a flu shot one time in my life and that's when I got the flu. Never get it again.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,301 Member
    A flu vax only ever has three or four strains of flu in them. These strains are the ones some scientists agree/thinks will be the ones to watch out for this year, the ones which will cause the most issues, in their view but others get through which are not covered by, this science as prepared for this year alone
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    I don't get the shot.
    A few years back my wife and kids all got the flu shot. I did not. A couple months later that all got the flu and I didn't.
    But don't worry. So day HHS will find a back door means of mandating it for everyone.
  • CaraRahl
    CaraRahl Posts: 72 Member
    I get mine because of where I work...daycares are essentially petri dishes for any bug going around, and any extra immunity helps. This year mine and my husband's was free because I'm pregnant and due soon.
  • grannynot
    grannynot Posts: 146 Member
    I have chosen not to - based on BAD allergic reactions my Dad and daughter got from flu shots. Both got hives - my Dad's were so bad that big sheets of flesh were peeling off his arms - my daughter still had hives weeks later when she got married.... so my DNA link to those two makes me leery (and I break out in hives pretty easily). I'm not at high risk for getting the flu; and should be healthy enough to fight it off if I DO get it. I also have the luxury of staying home while sick and not exposing anyone.

    And no - I'm not the slightest bit afraid of needles; and opted to have the Shingles vaccination (no side effects from that), so I'm not an anti-vaxxer.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Absolutely pro flu shot.
  • Sarc_Warrior
    Sarc_Warrior Posts: 430 Member
    100% support for the flu shot. I'm a severe asthmatic and have sarcoidosis in my lungs.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    amyrebeccah wrote: »
    JamestheLiar wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    wanzik wrote: »
    Never had one. Don't plan on getting one any time soon but when I'm older I might need them.

    I don't view vaccines as being for yourself, they are for the community. Its a societal thing. I don't get a flu shot because I am super worried that I am going to get deathly ill from the flu, I get a flu shot because I view it as part of the protective shield helping stave off potentially life threatening diseases from the community as a whole. Not because I am old but because I might be around people who are.

    I get the TDAP vaccine because I'm occassionally around children, not because I'm worried about pertussus for myself. I get the flu shot for similar reasons.

    I view it as a civic duty. Unless I have a very good reason to not get one I get one and to date I haven't had a good reason to not get one. I have medical insurance so its 100% free, so why wouldn't I?

    With everything its a cost:benefit analysis

    Cost: No money. No risk of illness (other posters are right you cannot get sick from a flu vaccine).
    Benefit: Possibly avoid the flu yourself. Avoid transmitting the flu to others.

    Seems like a no brainer to me.

    I have a question, and I'll admit that I did not read this thread, so it my already have been addressed. The fact is, I've never viewed the flu shot in the same manner as the person I quoted above, and his/her view makes a lot of sense in the Arena of Vaccines as a whole. However, unlike most other vaccines, almost everyone I know actually contracts the flu when they get the flu shot. Doesn't that negate the whole "protective shield" argument?
    1. Many people who think they have the flu when they get the flu shot have never actually had the flu. It's like a headache--some people think their headaches are migraines until they have a migraine. The magnitude is just different. You feel run-down, you feel bad, you may even get sick. But it's not as bad as the actual flu and certainly not life-threatening the way the flu is.
    2. For people who actually get the flu after the flu shot, they are either: (a) getting it before the shot's efficacy would have kicked in (ie, they get it three days after but the flu shot actually takes 2 weeks to improve your immune system) and it's a coincidence, or (b)they got a strain that the shot didn't immunize against.
    3. Do you go around asking every healthy person you know if they've had a flu shot? Because most people who think they get the flu after the shot are pretty vocal about it, and most people who have good experiences just kind of go about their business.

    Also, you are not supposed to get the shot if you have any symptoms of cold or flu, but many people ignore that. They don't seem to understand that an immunization shot is preventative and not curative. I've known several people who have ignored a sore throat or sniffle when getting immunized then claim to have the flu from getting the shot, when in reality they have a bad cold because the shot temporarily lowered their ability to fight off the bug they already had.

    What a bout those who had no symptoms and were not getting sick? I know they say the shots can't give you the flu but a minority do get sick. I had to take time off of work on the years I got it because I had a fever and everything.

    A girlfriend of mine had the chicken pox vaccine because she had never had it and wanted to be protected while trying to conceive. Within days she coincidentally developed chicken pox, with spots all over even though she does not believe she was exposed to it anywhere. The doctor adamantly argued that she contracted it before the shot. Coincidence.

    Funny, those coincidences.

  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    As stated above, Chickenpox vaccine is made from live virus. In the UK the chickenpox vaccine is only given based on clinical need, i.e it's not normally given. The best way to get immunity from chickenpox as an adult is to contract it as a child. When I was a child we would have Pox Parties if someone had it, so that we'd all catch it! I got it twice, because I only had a mild dose the first time (7 spots).

    Flu vaccine is not live, and although my doctor has always warned me of side effects that could last a couple of days such as muscle ache, sore arm or mild fever, I've never had any of them after my jab.
  • Tigg_er
    Tigg_er Posts: 22,001 Member
    Got them for years, mandatory for military. Continue to get them because I'm used to getting them. Never got sick from them.
    Now the yellow fever shots,,,,always got kinda sick after them. :/
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    I really don't have anything against them. They are very useful for those who need the extra protection. That said, we have never gotten the shots. We are a family of five who only ever gets minor colds. We are healthy and have never had the true respiratory flu. I have one boy with mild asthma so I guess we would qualify as a family with a compromised member but I see no need. We have done all the childhood vaccines aside from chicken pox, and we have all been updated on hepatitis shots as we are travelling with the kids this winter. So I am not against vaccines, I just see no reason to get that one if we can just let our body do its thing and fight it off appropriately.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    amyrebeccah wrote: »
    JamestheLiar wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    wanzik wrote: »
    Never had one. Don't plan on getting one any time soon but when I'm older I might need them.

    I don't view vaccines as being for yourself, they are for the community. Its a societal thing. I don't get a flu shot because I am super worried that I am going to get deathly ill from the flu, I get a flu shot because I view it as part of the protective shield helping stave off potentially life threatening diseases from the community as a whole. Not because I am old but because I might be around people who are.

    I get the TDAP vaccine because I'm occassionally around children, not because I'm worried about pertussus for myself. I get the flu shot for similar reasons.

    I view it as a civic duty. Unless I have a very good reason to not get one I get one and to date I haven't had a good reason to not get one. I have medical insurance so its 100% free, so why wouldn't I?

    With everything its a cost:benefit analysis

    Cost: No money. No risk of illness (other posters are right you cannot get sick from a flu vaccine).
    Benefit: Possibly avoid the flu yourself. Avoid transmitting the flu to others.

    Seems like a no brainer to me.

    I have a question, and I'll admit that I did not read this thread, so it my already have been addressed. The fact is, I've never viewed the flu shot in the same manner as the person I quoted above, and his/her view makes a lot of sense in the Arena of Vaccines as a whole. However, unlike most other vaccines, almost everyone I know actually contracts the flu when they get the flu shot. Doesn't that negate the whole "protective shield" argument?
    1. Many people who think they have the flu when they get the flu shot have never actually had the flu. It's like a headache--some people think their headaches are migraines until they have a migraine. The magnitude is just different. You feel run-down, you feel bad, you may even get sick. But it's not as bad as the actual flu and certainly not life-threatening the way the flu is.
    2. For people who actually get the flu after the flu shot, they are either: (a) getting it before the shot's efficacy would have kicked in (ie, they get it three days after but the flu shot actually takes 2 weeks to improve your immune system) and it's a coincidence, or (b)they got a strain that the shot didn't immunize against.
    3. Do you go around asking every healthy person you know if they've had a flu shot? Because most people who think they get the flu after the shot are pretty vocal about it, and most people who have good experiences just kind of go about their business.

    Also, you are not supposed to get the shot if you have any symptoms of cold or flu, but many people ignore that. They don't seem to understand that an immunization shot is preventative and not curative. I've known several people who have ignored a sore throat or sniffle when getting immunized then claim to have the flu from getting the shot, when in reality they have a bad cold because the shot temporarily lowered their ability to fight off the bug they already had.

    What a bout those who had no symptoms and were not getting sick? I know they say the shots can't give you the flu but a minority do get sick. I had to take time off of work on the years I got it because I had a fever and everything.

    A girlfriend of mine had the chicken pox vaccine because she had never had it and wanted to be protected while trying to conceive. Within days she coincidentally developed chicken pox, with spots all over even though she does not believe she was exposed to it anywhere. The doctor adamantly argued that she contracted it before the shot. Coincidence.

    Funny, those coincidences.

    Reaction yes, get the flu from the shot no because it contains dead virus.

    The chicken pox vaccine on the other hand is made of live virus so you can get the chicken pox from it.

    This ^^

    You can't get the flu from the flu vaccine. But it does temporarily depress your immune system as you body produces antibodies. That's why it's easier to get sick after having it. I guess in a sense you could say the shot 'causes' the illness if it were something your body would have fought off naturally with that slight depression. Or you may have gotten sick anyway.
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
    I'm against them. Everyone I've known who got one, got sick and it didn't help.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    I'm completely for them, but personally, I can't be bothered. My lifestyle is extremely solitary (both personally and professionally). The only times I've ever gotten sick is when I was married (she was a pharmacist and brought home all kinds of *kitten*) and when I had roommates. Neither is a concern any longer.

    I tend to keep my apartment well stocked, so in the event that I do get sick, I wouldn't have to leave until well after it was over.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    For the shots. I was in Myrtle Beach on vacation the week that Hurricane hit. My 3 year old spiked a high fever and I took him to the minute clinic. Tested positive for flu. That was the 1st week of October and I just hadn't got around to the flu shot yet because it was so early.

    I'm expecting, so OB said I needed to take TamiFlu as a precaution...Guess what, no one had it in stock yet. Then I drove home 13 hours (because we couldn't get a flight out) in a car with a sick 3 year old. Luckily, I never got it, but yes, Flu season is already here. Better to just get it.
  • one1fast68
    one1fast68 Posts: 51 Member
    I have never gotten one. The only time I've gotten the flu was in 2nd grade. I have a friend that lost his brother to GBS after getting a flu shot. Since then I do not allow my son to get a flu shot.
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