Flu Shot Thoughts & Experiences Please

75Juniper · September 2012

I have to get the shot per my employer, so I will, but I'm not happy about it. The reason the flu shot doesn't always work is because it's a crap shoot. Here is an excerpt from the CDC's website:

How are the viruses selected to make flu vaccine?
The influenza (flu) viruses selected for inclusion in the seasonal flu vaccines are updated each year based on which influenza virus strains are circulating, how they are spreading, and how well current vaccine strains protect against newly identified strains. Currently, 130 national influenza centers in 101 countries conduct year-round surveillance for influenza and study influenza disease trends. These laboratories also send influenza viruses to the five World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centers for Reference and Research on Influenza located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC); London, United Kingdom (National Institute for Medical Research); Melbourne, Australia (Victoria Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory); Tokyo, Japan (National Institute for Infectious Diseases); and Beijing, China (National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention) for additional analyses.

The seasonal flu vaccine is a trivalent vaccine (a three component vaccine) with each component selected to protect against one of the three main groups of influenza viruses circulating in humans. (Last year's 2009 H1N1 vaccine was made in response to the pandemic first recognized in April 2009. Unlike seasonal flu vaccines, the pandemic vaccine protected against only one flu virus strain, the 2009 H1N1 virus.)

The influenza viruses in the seasonal flu vaccine are selected each year based on surveillance-based forecasts about what viruses are most likely to cause illness in the coming season. WHO recommends specific vaccine viruses for inclusion in influenza vaccines, but then each individual country makes their own decision for which strains should be included in influenza vaccines licensed in their country. In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines which vaccine viruses will be used in U.S.—licensed vaccines.

JLand918 · September 2012

I have never had it due to the theory might be true or not but I have seen some get the flu shot to not get the flu but days after getting the shot...they are out sick with the flu. So I never get it as I think (conspiracy here) they are just injecting you with the virus so you get it now to not get it later?...

chuckyp · September 2012

You can not get sick from the shot. It takes two weeks to develop immunity to influenza after you get the vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, you were probably exposed to the virus right before or right after you were vaccinated. The vaccine is made from killed (shot) or inactivated (nasal spray) virus and can't give you the flu.
I suppose if you have an already compromised immune system than anything is possible but the risk of the flu without the shot is not worth it!

This makes sense.

I disagree but I wasn't going to say anything. I think the average person's risk of contracting the flu is not nearly as good as the companies promoting the shot would like you to think. I also think that any vaccine that needs to be taken/boosted every single year isn't a vaccine at all. I've been vaccinated for many other things but never had to go back every year for it to be done again. Some part of me deep down inside truly believes the "flu shot" is a money making scam. Call me paranoid...

Before I got flu shots I got the flu almost every year without fail. What the above poster said is true. You cannot get the actual flu from a flu shot. So you were either exposed before the shot took effect, or you are experiencing other mild symptoms from the immune response.

The vaccine is not "boosted" every year. It is a new vaccine because the flu virus is different every year. The vaccine provided is merely the best prediction of the viral strain that will cause the flu that particular flu season.

And remember, the purpose of vaccination is not just to keep you from getting sick, but to keep you from spreading disease. Vaccination is the reason we don't have plagues that kill a million or more people at a time anymore.

juliaamilee · September 2012

You can not get sick from the shot. It takes two weeks to develop immunity to influenza after you get the vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, you were probably exposed to the virus right before or right after you were vaccinated. The vaccine is made from killed (shot) or inactivated (nasal spray) virus and can't give you the flu.
I suppose if you have an already compromised immune system than anything is possible but the risk of the flu without the shot is not worth it!

THIS! as an RN in public health we are preparing to get ready to immunize for the flu. I tell people this daily. Also there is more than one strain of the flu! If you do get the flu it is probably not one of the 3 that you were vaccinated for that in in the annual flu shot.. You are vacciniated against the 2-3 most prevalant strains that year, if you do get it, it will be much more milder than without.

sarahsmom1 · September 2012

I never had gotten the shot until my husband had a stroke and kidney failure then I had to get it to protect him from all the people around us, then continued to get it because my mom had MS and they both had immune issues from their illnesses. If you dont want to get for yourself think of the others you may out at risk unknowingly. And yes the people that get sick are the ones that all ready were exposed from the people not getting the shot. I get mine free at the base and I believe all Military have to get it and I know people who work with children and the elderly have to get it. Just keep yourself safe and think of others who would become deathly ill if they got sick from someone who could have prevented it by getting a shot.

qballjr13 · September 2012

You can not get sick from the shot. It takes two weeks to develop immunity to influenza after you get the vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, you were probably exposed to the virus right before or right after you were vaccinated. The vaccine is made from killed (shot) or inactivated (nasal spray) virus and can't give you the flu.
I suppose if you have an already compromised immune system than anything is possible but the risk of the flu without the shot is not worth it!

This makes sense.

I disagree but I wasn't going to say anything. I think the average person's risk of contracting the flu is not nearly as good as the companies promoting the shot would like you to think. I also think that any vaccine that needs to be taken/boosted every single year isn't a vaccine at all. I've been vaccinated for many other things but never had to go back every year for it to be done again. Some part of me deep down inside truly believes the "flu shot" is a money making scam. Call me paranoid...

I’m sure some of it is a money making technique. ever business operates to make a profit. But as Julia mentioned, they pick the 3 strains that they think will be the worst of the season and build the shot around those.
I work in a building with over one thousand employees, more than two hundred in my office, a kid in elementary school and one in daycare...I will always get the shot! Working in this environment, seeing how many people never even wash their hands when they go to the bathroom, seeing how many people sneeze or cough into their hands, my risk of contracting it are much higher.
I don’t think anyone is trying to talk you into it, just debunking myths and helping you make a conscious decision based on fact and not rumors.

SeaChele77 · September 2012

I do not and will not get the flu shot nor will my children.

MissLuana · September 2012

I've done both. The one time I got it, I instantly got sick as a dog. Now I don't get them but everyone at my job does and guess what, I still end up sick from them :grumble:

chanixxx · September 2012

I've never had a bad experience, but I get it once every now and again cos my doc sneaks it in with my tb tests sometimes.

AllonsYtotheTardis · September 2012

I don't think the formula for the flu vaccine is the same in Canada as the US (I live in Canada).

At any rate, I (and my family) have been getting it every year since my kids were born. I wish I had started getting it years earlier - I haven't had a winter flu since, and I used to catch whichever of the varieties were popular, every year, and usually around the holidays so I was always miserable for traveling. Ugh - as long as I can get the vaccine, I will get it.

I get soreness in the arm around the injection site, but that's the only side effect I get - same for my family.

Scarlett_S · September 2012

1001 nurses are going to disagree with me; but I never get the flu shot. I got it one time - and that is the only year I ever got the flu. I know it doesn't protect against all strains, etc. so figured it was a coincidence.

When my girls were younger, I took them in for the flu nasal spray because they were predicting a really bad flu season. They got the spray in October, and that year, both of them got the flu - at different times - one in December and one in January.

That was six years ago and no one in my family has gotten a flu shot since. Or the flu.

SuffolkSally · September 2012

I get it every year. It doesn't prevent all flu strains, just the more prevalent ones, but I haven't had a bad go of flu since I started getting vaccinated. Also, I've never had flu symptoms after getting the jab - but I'm in the UK maybe things are different here.

jc1229 · September 2012

The very first year I received the flu shot I was sick for a day and my arm where I got it in was sore for 2 days. The following 6 yrs after that I have been perfectly fine, knock on wood.

Amandac6772 · September 2012

I have had one and I stayed sick all winter after that. I don't know if it had anything to do with it or not because I have always been healthy but I'm not taking another chance on it.

Molly_Maguire · September 2012

I got mine the past three years in a row. No flu symptoms, or anything horrible at all. The last time, my bicep was sore for like 2 days, like someone punched me in the arm really hard, but honestly I'd rather have that than be laid up in bed for a week, wishing I was dead.

fbmandy55 · September 2012

The flu shot is not very effective. The flu shot only covers a certain strain and there are many,e ver changing strains every season that you are exposed to. To me, it's not worth the injecting that crap into my body.

My main reason for not getting one, I get horribly, horribly sick every year I have ever had a flu shot. I have a strong immune system. I'm not a germaphobe, I don't sanitize excessively and I let my body build up the anti-bodies to fight off bugs. I don't go to the doctor when I do get sick and I have no problem letting my body do what it is designed to do: fight off bugs.

sed1217 · September 2012

I get one every year because I work on a college campus. It's germ heaven! I've never had a problem with a flu shot. I have had the flu in a year when I've gotten a shot, but only once. I had a mild case as well. It's worth it to me, especially considering how simple the process is. The needles are so tiny you can barely feel them.

zyxst · September 2012

I won't ever get a flu shot. Flu has so many strains that a shot can't cover them all (why swine flu was such an epidemic). The people I know who've had the shot have gotten sick. I did have the Vietnamese flu when I was a toddler, so maybe I have the antibodies to fight the flu off.