Flu Shots? thoughts

artelyn

I have never had one. Even when pregnant. My kids had them (reluctantly on my part, but husband wanted them to have it) until they rushed out the H1N1 vaccine and I haven't done them for the kids since. My husband (who is diabetic) gets them every year. I take a lot of *kitten* from my mother in law about not getting the shots for the kids. But I, as a mother, have to go with my gut and my gut says no. Thankfully husband doesn't fight me on it!

Crochetluvr

My b/f and I both get them. His Medicare pays for his and he pays out of pocket for mine. He needs it more than me (his age and working in public) but I think it helps us both.

MagicalLeopleurodon

I did once and got the flu four times that year. I was useless for weeks every time.

Best flu shot ever-eat right. I dont get sick anymore.

lithezebra

No, never. We also haven't gotten the flu over the years. I think the flu shot is a bunch of rubbish, and I don't think I'm necessarily one of those conspiracy theorist types either. I was required when I was in the military year after year to get the flu shot and still ended up getting sick every year. When I got out, I stopped getting the shots and haven't gotten sick like that since. I don't know.

You were probably in contact with more people, and had more opportunities to catch something, while you were in the military. A flu shot won't prevent you from catching anything except the flu.

pinkledoodledoo

I don't get the flu shot and neither does my husband. Neither of us work directly with the public and neither of us is around small children or the elderly very much so we don't see the point. If either of us gets the flu we want our bodies to fight it naturally, like we did when we were kids. I don't think I've had the flu in 10+ years so I see no reason to start getting the shot now.

RCottonRPh

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

sumeetg37

There's a study out there that basically says it's about 60% effective for people between 18 and 65. Soooo... if you like the odds get it... if not don't. It is not a "great" vaccine, only an ok one. That being said my wife is a physician at a hospital so we are all getting one.

evileen99

I'm might get her drunk and take her to the clinic this year.

I've got a pretty solid immune system and I'm not around people who are immunocompromised so I don't really see the need at this time. I've heard arguments for herd immunity but I don't see how it would work with something that changes and evolves every season. To me it's kind of like buying a brand new Iphone when the next generation is coming out in 3 months.

How do you know you're not around anyone who is immunocompromised? We don't have big signs on our heads--we look like everyone else and we go places where everyone else does--grocery store, post office, gym. All it takes is one person shedding virus (and you shed before you have full blown symptoms) to infect us and make us seriously ill.

And I find that most people who say they got the flu when the got the vaccine didn't really get influenza--they got some GI bug that caused vomiting. Real influenza rarely causes vomiting. There is no such thing as "stomach flu!"

MagicalLeopleurodon

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

I could not care less what the CDC suggests. Humanity would not have survived llong enough to create the vaccine if our bodies werent capable of dealing with it to begin with.

Also-no offense to you, but Drs and pharmacists make money for every pill or vaccine administered, even if only a small percent. The medical field makes money off sick people and people who think every stupid cold is fatal and needs a vaccine or chemical preventative.

MagicalLeopleurodon

I'm might get her drunk and take her to the clinic this year.

I've got a pretty solid immune system and I'm not around people who are immunocompromised so I don't really see the need at this time. I've heard arguments for herd immunity but I don't see how it would work with something that changes and evolves every season. To me it's kind of like buying a brand new Iphone when the next generation is coming out in 3 months.

How do you know you're not around anyone who is immunocompromised? We don't have big signs on our heads--we look like everyone else and we go places where everyone else does--grocery store, post office, gym. All it takes is one person shedding virus (and you shed before you have full blown symptoms) to infect us and make us seriously ill.

And I find that most people who say they got the flu when the got the vaccine didn't really get influenza--they got some GI bug that caused vomiting. Real influenza rarely causes vomiting. There is no such thing as "stomach flu!"

it is not my responsibility to keep immunocompromised people healthy any more than i sgouldnt order a peanutbutter cheesecake because someone in the restaurant may have peanut allergies. The only immune system i have control over is mine

BattleTaxi

I'm getting mine Friday, I get it every year. I'm around way too many people in one day to want to risk getting it or carrying it.

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hopefaithlove24

Nope never got it, probably never will and I'm also barely ever sick, just a big money maker

evileen99

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

I could not care less what the CDC suggests. Humanity would not have survived llong enough to create the vaccine if our bodies werent capable of dealing with it to begin with.

Also-no offense to you, but Drs and pharmacists make money for every pill or vaccine administered, even if only a small percent. The medical field makes money off sick people and people who think every stupid cold is fatal and needs a vaccine or chemical preventative.

Ever hear of the flu pandemic of 1918? It killed around 70 million people and had greater than 50% mortality in people aged 18-40. Vaccines weren't created to generate revenue, they were created to save lives.

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megalin9

From what I can remember, flu shots used to be in short supply. It was initially requested that the flu shots be reserved for babies/small children, pregnant women, the elderly, and anyone with a compromised immune system. For that reason, I never got one.

Now that it's available to everyone, my children get the shots, but I have only ever gotten it if I was pregnant during flu season. I am healthy with an apparently strong immune system, and I have never had the flu, so I have chosen not to get it for myself. However, I am not opposed to it in the future if I ever get the flu or if my immune system takes a hit for whatever reason.

DatMurse

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

I could not care less what the CDC suggests. Humanity would not have survived llong enough to create the vaccine if our bodies werent capable of dealing with it to begin with.

Also-no offense to you, but Drs and pharmacists make money for every pill or vaccine administered, even if only a small percent. The medical field makes money off sick people and people who think every stupid cold is fatal and needs a vaccine or chemical preventative.

We did used to die at a much younger age. I am a nursing student so we wont make money like that, neither do pharmacists. For doctors its more of pills.

You have to remember that there have been epidemics that have been stopped due to vaccinations such as polio.

I know people panic a lot and there is much truth to this. There are also others like you that know you will be better.

The flu shot isn't guaranteed either. They base it off of the flu in eastern hemisphere

DatMurse

I'm might get her drunk and take her to the clinic this year.

I've got a pretty solid immune system and I'm not around people who are immunocompromised so I don't really see the need at this time. I've heard arguments for herd immunity but I don't see how it would work with something that changes and evolves every season. To me it's kind of like buying a brand new Iphone when the next generation is coming out in 3 months.

How do you know you're not around anyone who is immunocompromised? We don't have big signs on our heads--we look like everyone else and we go places where everyone else does--grocery store, post office, gym. All it takes is one person shedding virus (and you shed before you have full blown symptoms) to infect us and make us seriously ill.

And I find that most people who say they got the flu when the got the vaccine didn't really get influenza--they got some GI bug that caused vomiting. Real influenza rarely causes vomiting. There is no such thing as "stomach flu!"

People who are immunocompromised shouldnt be running around with normal people in the first place. It is one of the precautions medical professionals tell them.

juliemouse83

It's required for my job. No shot? No job.

I'm not a huge fan of it, but I'll take it so I can pay the bills. What can you do?

The worst part is that I always feel cruddy for a few days after, so I am sort of timing this year's around my workout schedule.

SkinnyFatAlbert

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

I could not care less what the CDC suggests. Humanity would not have survived llong enough to create the vaccine if our bodies werent capable of dealing with it to begin with.

Also-no offense to you, but Drs and pharmacists make money for every pill or vaccine administered, even if only a small percent. The medical field makes money off sick people and people who think every stupid cold is fatal and needs a vaccine or chemical preventative.

Ever hear of the flu pandemic of 1918? It killed around 70 million people and had greater than 50% mortality in people aged 18-40. Vaccines weren't created to generate revenue, they were created to save lives.

Hmm, I wonder if there was anything else going on at the time which may of contributed in any way to this. Hmmmmmmmm.

"The close quarters and massive troop movements of World War I hastened the pandemic and probably both increased transmission and augmented mutation; the war may also have increased the lethality of the virus. Some speculate the soldiers' immune systems were weakened by malnourishment, as well as the stresses of combat and chemical attacks, increasing their susceptibility."

fbmandy55

I am a pharmacist. Get your flu shot. There are so many myths out there about the shot. Some think it is only for the old and frail. Not true. CDC recommends it for generally everyone. The flu shot CANNOT cause the flu. It is a dead, inactivated virus you are being injected with. Flu like symptoms are sometimes experienced as a side effect, but this is rare. If you get sick shortly after getting a flu shot, it's because you already had something incubating in your body when you got the shot. The autism/flu shot link has more than been debunked, but we still have folks not vaccinating their kids because they would rather listen to Jenny McCarthy than common sense or their doctor.

I could not care less what the CDC suggests. Humanity would not have survived llong enough to create the vaccine if our bodies werent capable of dealing with it to begin with.

Also-no offense to you, but Drs and pharmacists make money for every pill or vaccine administered, even if only a small percent. The medical field makes money off sick people and people who think every stupid cold is fatal and needs a vaccine or chemical preventative.

Ever hear of the flu pandemic of 1918? It killed around 70 million people and had greater than 50% mortality in people aged 18-40. Vaccines weren't created to generate revenue, they were created to save lives.

Many other factors there, especially the sanitary conditions in the times of pandemics, medical knowledge, hygiene, etc...

There are so many types of flu and as a live virus it is ever mutating so how effective is the flu shot really? Does the flu shot not just cover 1 strain of flu? How many people like myself get the shot and get sick each year?

spoiledpuppies

I get one, especially now that I spend a lot of time on college campuses for work.

Crohns2013

No one in my family gets a flu shot, and we probably never will.

xcatsaxon

I never used to, until I was hospitalized and almost died 9 years back from it. Haven't had the flu since I get the shot every year; while I am not a huge fan,I do believe science is right on this one.

AndiGirl70

My family and I will never get a flu shot. What goes into the flu shot every year is an educated "guess" of what strains are expected to be seen so why would I inject myself and my kids with something that might work? No thank you. I vaccinate my children but I never accept any voluntary extra vaccinations. To each their own.

Kasmira0004

No, never. We also haven't gotten the flu over the years. I think the flu shot is a bunch of rubbish, and I don't think I'm necessarily one of those conspiracy theorist types either. I was required when I was in the military year after year to get the flu shot and still ended up getting sick every year. When I got out, I stopped getting the shots and haven't gotten sick like that since. I don't know.

You were probably in contact with more people, and had more opportunities to catch something, while you were in the military. A flu shot won't prevent you from catching anything except the flu.

Considering I have kids now that are around other kids, plus we are out in the public a lot more, I'm much more at risk for the flu now than when I was in the military. The flu shot isn't some cure-all prevention from getting the flu. It doesn't protect you from ever getting any strain of flu, ever. To each their own.

lithezebra

People who are immunocompromised shouldnt be running around with normal people in the first place. It is one of the precautions medical professionals tell them.

Because people who are immunocompromised don't have bills to pay, especially medical bills.

twinteensmom

I get one every year and I have never even had the flu. However, my parents are 80 and in shaky health. What might make me sick just might KILL them. I would much rather endure a little pain in my arm than lose a parent because of the flu!

evileen99

People who are immunocompromised shouldnt be running around with normal people in the first place. It is one of the precautions medical professionals tell them.

Because people who are immunocompromised don't have bills to pay, especially medical bills.

Right--because we don't have jobs, we don't have to eat, etc. We're not talking boy in a bubble, you know. Your children have weaker immune systems; does that mean you never take them out of the house or send them to school?

Cinflo58

I work in a hospital and get the flu shot every year. I had the flu one and never want to go throuigh that again.