What do you do to prevent the flu...

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  • BrotherBill913
    BrotherBill913 Posts: 661 Member
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    Hazmat suits.


    funny... lol...
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    I'm amazed... Do normal healthy adults in the US, who are not vulnerable or immuno-compromised in some way, pay to get them done privately?

    In the UK there are certain groups of people who get them on the NHS (e.g. the elderly, pregnant women etc) but that's about it.
    http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/who-should-have-flu-vaccine.aspx

    I don't fit any of those groups, so it's genuinely never occurred to me to get one. I have a pretty decent immune system and am harly ever ill.

    I'm not positive but it must be a herd vaccination policy that the US uses. Honestly, I dont have a problem with it a healthy adult can handle the vaccination, and if possibly it did end up being the next spanish influenza. I've been a pin cushion ever since living in Africa, so my views are skewed.
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
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    No, the flu vaccine isn't 100% effective. That's why more people need to take it for herd immunity to kick in. Herd immunity prevents YOU from getting sick (even if you didn't take the vaccine) by essentially preventing Joe over there from sneezing on you (even though the vaccine wasn't effective in Joe), as he might have caught the flu from Jane, except she did take the vaccine, and it worked for her. The more Joes + Janes you have, the more Janes, so the less likely the virus is to go, well, viral.

    So yes, I take the vaccine, and encourage everyone else to take it too.

    Otherwise, I just wash my hands (with non-antibacterial soap wherever possible).
  • peachcats
    peachcats Posts: 99
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    Buy a mask.
    I get so pissed off when people come to school/work sick and cough all over me. Started happening this week already.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,135 Member
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    Nothing. I let my immune system do its job. Only flu I know I've had is the Vietnamese flu that was floating around in the very early 1970s (71-72).
  • ashleyinthecold
    ashleyinthecold Posts: 89 Member
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    I don't get the flu short, for one thing. Every time I've ever gotten one, I'd get the flu that year. So now I don't bother. I very rarely get sick anyway, so I don't do anything different than I normally do.
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
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    I've never had the flu, never had a flu shot either. I wash my hands, stay hydrated, avoid gross sneezing/coughing coworkers and make them stay away from my desk, and get enough sleep every night. My SO will occasionally bring a cold home from work (they work with shared microphones and headphones and no one sanitizes them! Ew!), and in that case, I'll make a few cups of Airborne each day, and take Zicam 2-3 times a day for a day or two. I manage to avoid getting a cold/the flu every year *fingers crossed this year is the same*
  • shano25
    shano25 Posts: 233 Member
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    No flu shot here.

    Just make sure I'm getting my vitamin C and D each day, cooking more with fresh garlic and ginger, adding honey to my smoothies, drinking lots of tea, washing my hands a lot and getting lots of sleep. Just do what I can to keep my immune system strong so it can fight off anything that comes my way.

    Last year I got the flu, everyone in my house did so it was inevitable after caring for 3 sick people at one time, but it wasn't anything I couldn't sleep off in a few days.

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