How Do You Feel About The Flu Shot?

I have a question if anyone can answer. I've read the arguments on here that say if you don't get a flu shot, even if you don't get the flu with symptoms, you can still spread it to others and you are basically a menace to elderly and young children. If I'm not showing any symptoms, not even a runny nose, I can be carrying the flu virus? Then if I'm around an elderly person, say my mother-in-law, who has had the flu shot, she should not be able to catch a virus that is not even presenting with symptoms, especially if she has had the flu shot. Just wondering. I am not often around elderly or young ones, but anyone I will be around has had their flu shot, so I don't see how I can affect them. Personally, I don't believe I am carrying the flu virus just because I haven't been vaccinated. I wash my hands frequently, always when I come in from shopping before putting anything away and again after, always before touching food and I do not cough or sneeze in anyone's direction or even into my own hand, so not sure how I would even spread it if I was a carrier. If I have to sneeze in anyone's presence, I turn away and sneeze into my elbow or upper arm. (not that I sneeze much, no allergies and pretty much no colds) Also, I thought the flu was most contagious only during a certain period, say in the earlier fever stage but not sure about that. (I know that is true with some illnesses).

If I was in the medical profession or frequently around elderly or young children, I probably would, although reluctantly, get the flu shot, just to make sure I couldn't spread it between sick and healthy. My mother is in end stage Alzheimer's and recently contracted a bad cold such that she needs the mucus suctioned out. My father did not have a cold and he is her only other caregiver besides the nursing staff. (they live out of state) She can't feed herself, communicate or do anything, even cough easily, so she had to have caught it from one of the nurses/attendants. Dad feeds her most of her meals and gets her dressed and undressed about 90 % of the time. Dad said some of the attendants were going around coughing and sneezing prior to her getting sick, so I think that is pretty careless, especially when pneumonia is the way many people in her condition meet their end.

I myself am highly upset that everyone here is being forced to take a flu shot regardless of whether you want it or not. It's either take it or lose your job- I have never taken one and I don't want one! What are your thoughts about the flu shot?

You can choose to work somewhere else? It's all up to you!

I don't mind it, because I've never had a bad reaction to it.

I personally prefer not to get them because I believe I could fight it off just fine at this point in my life, making myself stronger while not making the virus more resilient with the shot. However, if I were older or had a weak immune system then sure, I'd get the shot. I do believe it's a personal choice and that your work is violating ethics by forcing you to get one. It's not a law to get the shot, therefore they cannot force you to get one. But l jest...

that's not how viral infections (or vaccines) work...you don't make the virus more resilient. It isn't like antibiotic resistance.

I get a shot every year (for about 8 years now)....I still ocassionally get the flu - but not as severe as people around me that has not had the shots....anything to keep me healthy is good for me!!

I've never got the shot and haven't had the flu for over 20 years

n=1

To be honest, nor have I. But I don't have children, nor do I have regular contact with immunocompromised populations. But this doesn't mean that the flu shot doesn't have its use. And there are cases where mandating it is appropriate.

Beware the slippery-slope fallacy.

I've never got the shot and haven't had the flu for over 20 years

n=1

To be honest, nor have I. But I don't have children, nor do I have regular contact with immunocompromised populations. But this doesn't mean that the flu shot doesn't have its use. And there are cases where mandating it is appropriate.

Beware the slippery-slope fallacy.

Yep, and the slippery slope can slide either way. People can say well I didn't get the flu shot and I never get the flu therefore nobody needs them or say I got the flu shot and it's worked for me so it will work for anybody. They can both be fallacious reasoning. With discernment I've found a huge list of cons and a questionable list of pros. I'm here to convey that .

No I dont get a flu shot. I know quite a few people that have had complications from it over the years. It just isnt worth it when they cant even guarantee that it will work since the flu mutates so quickly. Eat right, get lots of rest and excersise should keep your immune system strong enough to handle a bout with the flu.

I don't get the flu shot. I only ever get the flu if I get the flu shot. It makes me extremely sick.

I don't get the flu shot. I only ever get the flu if I get the flu shot. It makes me extremely sick.

If you don't get the flu shot, how do you know it makes you sick?
Just wondering.

I've actually had a never flu shot...I don't have a lot of other vaccines that I should be updated for either, haha. Now that I am old enough to make the choice, I choose not to. I will, however, once I enter the healthcare field get up to date for the safety of patients I just don't see the point of getting a tetanus shot when I never cut myself, and if I do, I can get the shot straight away. I also never get the flu, so again, I don't see the point.

I second this sentiment. I have gotten the flu shot in the past and have never been sicker in my life. I do not feel the need to give my self or my children the flu virus (diluted, dead or any other way) in order to maybe/maybe not catch the actual flu. That being said. I do support vaccinations and those with compromised immune systems or who work in fields where they are more susceptible to catching and/or spreading communicable diseases will probably benefit from it. In the end, I think it should be a choice.

"But this doesn't mean that the flu shot doesn't have its use. And there are cases where mandating it is appropriate."


And you accuse me of the same exact thing that you are doing. Hypocrite.

Flu shots are useful so it's appropriate to mandate????? This is a major slippery slope. And this is exactly what is happening, slippery slope is being mandated. It is absolutely disgusting. You cannot out debate me and your weakness only gives me ammunition to fire back. Now, can you explain what does mean that a flu shot has a use? Maybe bring some evidence as to how flu shots are actually useful. Maybe bring some evidence as to how they are actually safe. Answer these three questions with truth and I'll stop debating.

Slippery slope: A slippery slope argument states that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect, much like an object given a small push over the edge of a slope sliding all the way to the bottom.

Thought this was an interesting article.


Prince George, Maryland State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivy (D) and the county's public health and education officials are bringing the power of the State down on parents who have not gotten their children injected with vaccines for chickenpox and hepatitis B. In a Nov. 13 press release issued by the Prince George's County Public Schools (http://www1.pgcps.org/interior.aspx?id=30956 ) and at a press conference that day, state officials made it clear they were going to use whatever means they had to use to force the children to get vaccinated. Ivy said he was prepared to throw the parents whose children had not gotten their shots in jail: "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it's got to be done. I'm willing to move forward with legal action." The parents of children, who have been kicked out of school for failing to get their shots and are subject to state truancy laws, are being summoned to the Prince George's County Courthouse in Upper Marlboro on Saturday with their children to get them vaccinated on-site or face fines and jail time.

Yesterday, in two televised debates on CNN with longtime national vaccine policymaker William Shaffner, M.D. of Vanderbilt, and on MSNBC with Prince George's County Health Officer Donald Shell, M.D., I made the following points:

http://www.youtube.com/v/G6z3htbpq70

http://www.youtube.com/v/BLHRceEUz8w

1) Terrorizing and threatening parents with jail time for not getting their children a chickenpox shot is not the way to handle the situation;

2) Some of the children may have had serious reactions to previous vaccinations and their parents are only trying to protect them from harm;

3) Even though it is unclear why all of the parents have not complied with the new vaccine requirements, when government officials use threats and intimidation to force parents to do what they want them to do, parents will fear and mistrust government officials;

4) There are many new vaccines being developed that will be added to the childhood schedule and what has happened in Maryland brings up the question that many parents are asking: How many more vaccines are children going to be forced to get to be able to get a public education? Many parents think too many vaccines are already required;

5) Chickenpox is not smallpox and hepatitis B is not polio. Hepatitis B is not an infection that can be transmitted in the school setting and chickenpox is mild for most children. These diseases do not fit the model of highly contagious diseases with a high rate of complications leading to permanent injury and death that have led to state vaccine requirements in the past;

6) Although Maryland and other states may allow medical and religious exemptions, they are very difficult for parents to obtain. Doctors cannot easily write medical exemptions that are not second- guessed by public health officials, who require strict adherence to narrow contraindications blessed by the CDC. Often parents, who attempt to file religious exemptions, are thrown into rooms and grilled about the sincerity of the religious beliefs;

7) Parents are wondering why every vaccine that industry produces is always automatically recommended for universal use by the CDC and then mandated;

8) The vaccine safety and informed consent debate is becoming more intense because more parents are reporting that their children are regressing into poor health after receiving many vaccines. Vaccines carry risks of seizures, brain inflammation and even death and often high risk children are not screened out of the program;

9) It is time for the people to take back the power - through their elected representatives - to decide which vaccines their children should have to take to go to school. In the past few decades, legislatures have given up their power to vote on which new vaccines will be mandated and have handed that power over to public health officials who have never met a vaccine they did not want to mandate;

10) The ethical principle of informed consent that applies to every other medical procedure that carries risks should also be applied to vaccination. Everyone should have the right to make an informed, voluntary vaccination choice.

There are many reasons why children do not receive vaccines. Some parents want to vaccinate their children but do not have access to public health clinics that are open during times that are convenient for parents. There may be cost and affordability issues. Others want to exempt their children from certain vaccines for reasons of religious belief or conscience but, as is the case in Maryland, cannot file a religious exemption unless they refuse all vaccines. Some may have children who have regressed into poor health after previous vaccinations and believe their children are genetically or otherwise at high risk for suffering vaccine reactions but can't find a doctor to write a medical exemption and do not have religious beliefs that qualify them for a religious exemption. Others are opposed to all vaccine use because they have determined that vaccines are not necessary, safe or effective.

Whatever the reasons for parents not vaccinating their children with all state mandated vaccines, it is inappropriate for state officials to threaten parents with jail time. Reportedly, there are about 6,000 truant students in the state of Maryland. Are the parents of the other 4,000 students who are missing from school also being given deadlines and facing jail time their truant children?

Or could this military action by what some parents are referring to as "The Vaccine Police" be simply a case of an eager State's Attorney looking for a political platform teaming up with over-zealous health and education officials to achieve a 100 percent vaccination rate with all state-mandated vaccines in Maryland?

Whatever the case, hopefully the several thousand children showing up with their parents at the courthouse tomorrow to get vaccinated will be carefully screened for pre-existing health conditions that could put them at high risk for suffering severe reactions and their parents will be fully informed about how to monitor their children for symptoms of vaccine reactions. In the zeal to implement public policy, what health and education officials often forget is that individual responses to pharmaceutical products vary. The one-size-fits-all approach increases the risk of side effects for those genetically and otherwise biologically at higher risk and that is just one of many good reasons why the right to informed consent to vaccination is a human right.

If you live in a state which does not have philosophical or conscientious belief exemption and are interested in educating your elected state representatives about vaccination and the need for informed consent protections in vaccine laws in your state, please contact NVIC at nvicINFO@gmail.com


Maryland Vaccine Exemption Form:
http://edcp.org/pdf/896_form_revised_Dec-2005.pdf

New Chickenpox and Hepatitis B Vaccine Requirements in Maryland:
http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/8D232316-E7C2-4A7A-91E2-009E3D36F95C/13616/FAQ_0808.pdf

Total Vaccine Requirements for children living in Maryland:
http://www.edcp.org/pdf/at105092.pdf
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November 13, 2007 Press Release from Prince George, MD Public School System

School, Health Department Working Together to Immunize All School Children County Schools, Government Go to Court to Provide Children's Immunizations

Putting the educational and health needs of children first, Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) and the County Health Department announced today that parents have been ordered to appear in court so their children can become compliant with State immunization requirements.

"Children should not be deprived of an education when our County offers free immunizations. This is a public health and children's rights issue that we are determined to correct," said Board of Education Chair R. Owen Johnson, Jr., who made the announcement today outside the Circuit Court of Prince George's County. "Children need to be in school to learn. Every day they are not permitted to attend school because they have not received their vaccinations is a missed opportunity."

On Saturday, November 17, 2007, the first of a series of hearings will be held in the Circuit Court of Prince George's County, 14735 Main Street, Upper Marlboro. Parents will appear with 1,671 children, who will receive needed vaccinations administered by the Prince George's County Health Department's licensed health care professionals.

"One of the most important things parents can do to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases is to make sure their children receive all their immunizations," said Donald Shell, M.D, M.A, Health Officer "Working in partnership with our county's schools, our goal is to provide immunizations to all children in need. With immunization of children, parents must partner with Health Department to authorize the delivery of services to their child."

The School System and Health Department have given parents of more than 2,300 students currently out of compliance with State school immunization requirements ample notice of the impending court dates. The following steps have been taken to notify parents of the severity of non-compliance:

1. Letters were sent to the homes of students not in compliance stating the deadline to acquire immunizations. These letters first mentioned the possibility of being summoned to Court.

2. Letters were sent to Physicians on April 24, 2006 to inform them of the new state immunization requirements that went into effect on September 1, 2006.

3. Additional immunization clinics were scheduled on Saturdays, evenings, and at additional sites.


The following steps will be taken if parents/guardians fail to respond:

1. Their name will be forwarded to the Court Liaison for referral to Circuit Court.

2. Parents will receive a letter from the Circuit Court Judge commanding their appearance in Court.

3. When parents appear in Court, the Judge will issue a verbal reprimand and direct them to have their children immunized on site.

4. The Health Department will be on-site to immunize non-compliant students.

5. Students will return to school as soon as they receive their required immunizations.

If a parent refuses to attend the Court hearing and/or allow their child to be immunized at Court, a Pupil Personnel Worker will prepare a packet that will facilitate parental referral to Court for further action

80 years ago the flu killed my 25 year old Grandfather and 2 months ago the flu killed my 56 year old brother-in-law.

GET YOUR F'' ING FLU SHOT.

had the flu last year and I will NEVER go without getting the shaot again!!!!! I have never bbeen so sick:-(