Flu Shots? thoughts

First time getting it was last fall because I started a new job where we are in and out of middle schools on a weekly basis in the fall and spring. It was also free with insurance so thats nice. Only flu shot before then was for the swine flu because my parents wanted me too (i was in college). That was a nasal drop-felt so weird. But I have only had the flu once and that was when I was a kid.

Never had them and never will.

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.

If they are immunocompromised, the flu is really the least of their worries.

They are not supposed to be around normal people in crowded areas or be in too much contact, bottom line. You dont see chemo patients running around

Yes, you DO see chemo patients running around! You just don't know it! Have you ever had chemo? Some regimens are 1 day on, 4 weeks off, 3 weeks off. People go on with their lives during chemo--work, go to school, etc. We need that medical insurance to pay for the chemo, because it ain't cheap. You don't sit holed up in your house 24/7. I worked, my best friend worked, a news anchor here in town worked during her chemo. We're not emaciated, pale, frail beings in a wheelchair--we look like everyone else, except when we're not wearing our wigs. In fact, since you get steroids with chemo, some of us actually GAIN weight.

People die from the flu, that can be prevented by getting the flu vaccine. I get the flu vaccine.

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.

If they are immunocompromised, the flu is really the least of their worries.

They are not supposed to be around normal people in crowded areas or be in too much contact, bottom line. You dont see chemo patients running around

Yes, you DO see chemo patients running around! You just don't know it! Have you ever had chemo? Some regimens are 1 day on, 4 weeks off, 3 weeks off. People go on with their lives during chemo--work, go to school, etc. We need that medical insurance to pay for the chemo, because it ain't cheap. You don't sit holed up in your house 24/7. I worked, my best friend worked, a news anchor here in town worked during her chemo. We're not emaciated, pale, frail beings in a wheelchair--we look like everyone else, except when we're not wearing our wigs. In fact, since you get steroids with chemo, some of us actually GAIN weight.

You are not supposed to run around when during nadir. Especially in crowded areas.

I have had 2 family members that have had chemo. I pretty much was at the hospital every week over several eyars

My kids get them every Fall.

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.

Wow. You cannot get the flu four times in a year. It's just...wow. Also, if you had the needle injection, it's a dead virus. It physically cannot cause the flu. Ever.

I am a previous non believer in vaccinations. But, now that I work in healthcare and see just how sick people can get - even healthy people, when a bad illness enters their system, I would never skip.

my take: the vaccination is a inactive or nonliving form of a disease and when vaccinated with it, your body will develop a memory to this bad illness and if/when you come into contact with the disease - your bod ALREADY has the memory of it to kill it off IMMEDIATLEY, instead of having to get all the symptoms and be miserable for a few days while waiting for your body to make the concoction to begin killing it off days after you contracted the disease. AND a bonus, if you do get an illness - you fight it off before you can pass off and spread it to your loved ones in the family who now don't have to suffer.

You bet I get the flu shot. Every year. The shot cannot give you the flu because it is a dead virus. The nasal spray has the potential to because it is only partially inactivated, so there is a slight chance with the nasal spray. But the vaccine does not and cannot cover every possible strain that can exist. Every year, CDC and other epidemiologists meet and decide based on trends elsewhere in the world which strains are most likely to appear here, and then the vaccines are created to prevent those strains. But there are some strains which can appear not covered, which is why you can get the vaccine and still get the flu. It isn't the vaccine giving you the flu. And even if you do get a different strain of the flu, you will most likely get a much milder case than if you hadn't gotten the vaccine at all.

But healthy people can die or become very ill and have to be hospitalized from the flu. It isn't only those who necessarily fall into the higher-risk categories. And there is also great benefit to herd immunity. The more people who get vaccinated, the less problems there will be for everyone, even those that don't get the vaccine.

I guess I just don't understand not getting it. Cowardice over being needle-phobic? Apathy? Mis-information? Feeling of invulnerability because you are young and healthy? But as for me, I'm getting it as soon as my employer offers it.

People who are immunocompromised shouldnt be running around with normal people in the first place.

Normal people? Boy how derogatory towards immunocompromisd people can you get? Guess they aren't "normal". Whatever in the hell normal means.

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We don’t do flu shots, as we tend to veer more toward the anti-vac crowd. I think people should do what they believe is right for their own health and the health of their families when it comes to vaccinations. I don’t push my vaccination beliefs on others like some of the celebrities, but I do maintain my right to make choices about my own body and one of those choices is to decline certain injections. To each their own.

And you have COPD? One of the diseases at highest risks for complications from the flu? You certainly have the right, but boy, that seems like an awfully huge risk to take with your life. And that is what it is. Every year. At any time.

We don’t do flu shots, as we tend to veer more toward the anti-vac crowd. I think people should do what they believe is right for their own health and the health of their families when it comes to vaccinations. I don’t push my vaccination beliefs on others like some of the celebrities, but I do maintain my right to make choices about my own body and one of those choices is to decline certain injections. To each their own.

Just my opinion, but denying children vaccinations like measles, mumps, rubella, is child abuse.

OK. Thanks for your opinion? We all have opinions about what other people do or don't do with their children.
The OP was asking us what we thought about the flu shot and I provided my perspective in that regard.
I'm not here to judge anyone for the decisions they make via their parenting choices.

No way. I have never had a flu shot and I have never had the flu, or even a bad cold. Coincidence? I doubt it.

Get your shots. Get all your shots, and make sure your kids get their vaccines too. Even if you don't normally get the flu, you could still be a carrier for it. Vaccines aren't just about protecting ourselves, they are also about protecting those around us-mainly small children, the elderly, or people who can't otherwise get vaccines. They are VERY important, and you're lucky if you live in a country where they are easily accessible.