My apologies if this topic has recently come up. I couldn’t find anything on search & I haven’t been lurking much in the past couple weeks.
I’ve had the flu exactly once in my life, and I happened to get it in one of the few seasons that I actually got a flu shot. Since then, I haven’t had an injection. All those years, I said that I wasn’t going to waste money on something that didn’t work (probably a stupid attitude). I would get mild colds or possibly bronchitis some time during the sick season. But then last January, both my husband and I got sick with a nasty upper respitory infection/ lingering bronchitis. Mom scolded me for not getting a flu shot last year (did that really have anything to do with it?).
So this is where I am-- The Red Cross takes our insurance so we won’t have to pay $25 fee. I’m leaning toward going ahead with it. I know the basics on how the shots work, but I’m wondering how the flu shot could help lessen the severity or duration of a upper res. infection or bronchitis. Well, aside from protecting against secondary infection.
What do the Teeming Millions think of flu shots? Is getting one a no-brainer, or are they not worth it? Does anyone have strong objections to the shots? If so, why?
I would say that I don’t know enough about it to go ahead and do it. How do you know you’re not going to catch a different strain of flu? Something about predicting which strain of flu is going to hit that year (and then releasing a vaccine for it) strikes me as odd. That’s probably just me being paranoid, though.
Personally, I just don’t see the point. It’s not promised to keep you from getting even that strain of flu. Unless you’re old and/or have some preexisting condition (e.g., serious asthma, some sort of immune condition, whatever), then yes, getting the flu is going to bite in a big way, but it’s not life-threatening.
Well, I get it every year because my job has me in contact with sick people. More chances of me getting sick, and more chances of me getting them sick if I catch anything elsewhere.
Even if they miss the Strain O’ The Year with their prediction, I figure it’s better to have some protection than have none at all.
I’ve never gotten a flu shot, since I’ve never had the flu since I had my tonsils taken out. They offered free flu shots at work (I work at a hospital–research department, so I don’t actually come in contact with sick people) and I didn’t get one then either. Sure, I expect I’ll get the flu sooner or later, but what’s so bad about having the flu? I’m not sick, I don’t know anyone who is, I don’t have any children or elderly relatives. The worst that happens is that I have to stay at home a few days, and what’s so wrong with that (if you can afford it)? Besides, I prefer to get my germs naturally, instead of having them injected into me. I’ve also heard that a big percentage of people (like more than 10%) have side effects from the shots–dizziness, fatigue, clouded thinking… gee, it’s just like they have the FLU!
I don’t believe in chicken pox vaccines for children either. Damn this Lysol Nation! It’s time someone put a stop to it.
Flu shots don’t offer any protection against colds or bronchitis. They are flu shots, not cold shots or bronchitis shots.
The flu nearly killed me. Fifteen years later I still have lingering effects. So, no, don’t get one - that way there will always be enough vaccine for us that have those pre-existing condtions.
The real flu, good old influenza, is a heck of a lot worse than the dizziness and ache you may get after a flu shot. It can actually kill people. Guess you don’t want your polio vaccine because it may give you a fever?
See, that’s what I’m thinking. I can’t see how a flu shot would lessen the severity or duration of a sinus infection or bronchitis. However, I can see this logic: Get the shot, you get bronchitis later in the season. The bronchitis weakens your immune system, leaving you vulnerable for a flu bug. The shot is there to protect you. Someone tell me if this is off base. I already know about predicted strains, so a different strain wouldn’t be covered… And I know that you can still be infected with the strain used in the injection-- the shot is not a guarantee.
I’m around my granny (who lives in an assisted living center) a lot. She’s already had her shot, but I guess I should get one just to be on the safe side. I’d feel awful if I got her sick with anything. And she’s so frail that the flu, or anything involving major chest congestion, might put her in the hospital.
One of the reasons I started this thread was to see if anyone would come in with some conspiracy theories about the shots. I’ve found that many people have very strong opinions about the injections, at either end of the spectrum. Mom thinks they’re a life saver. A friend of mine is so uneasy about them that he’s bordering on thinking they’re a government conspiracy. ::shrug:: I was listening to a discussion about Avian Flu on Science Friday last week on NPR & a caller was totally ate up with the government conspiracy thing. Ok, that’s slightly different, I admit. But damn, this lady was paranoid.
Good Egg, is there more to your story? I’m interested.
I almost put this thread in GD. Should it be moved over there?
Likewise, and I work with patients who have AIDS. If I had the flu and passed it on while I was asymptomatic, it could have serious effects on my patients.
And to comment on a later poster’s gripes about side effects - trust me, those aren’t anything compared to the real flu. Influenza puts healthy people in bed because they don’t have much of a choice in the matter, it’s that debilitating.
Flu shots aren’t very common yet here, but they are starting to get more common. Normally we reserve them for those who are vulnerable, just as doctors should prescribe anti-biotics only when the body can’t handle a bacterial infection by itself.
Your body, when it gets sick, learns to overcome an infection by creating appropriately tooled T-cells. Effective T-cells are remembered in the liver. I as yet have seen no guarantee that flu shots are exactly as effective at learning, and when I question medical researchers on this, they agree it is possible that a flu shot has a weaker effect, not unlike the vaccine against chicken pox leaves you more vulnerable at a later age .
Since this learning mechanism is not yet fully understood, it is not yet predictable how the effects, especially long term, of flu shots will pan out. What is predictable, is that when you’re an otherwise healthy person, you’re going to recover from normal flu fairly easily. Considering the long term effects of overuse of antibiotics, I think similar restraint should be applied on flu-shots. Let your body do its job, when it can. When you it can’t, because you have a medical condition or are just really, really old, then sure, the flu-shot seems like a good idea.
Excellent point, Arwin. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I stay away from antibiotics until I’ve had a particularly hearty infection for several weeks, or if I’m flat-out deathly ill. I know a lot of people who start amoxicillin as soon as they start sniffling. My husband (from Britain) was shocked at all the OTC & RX drugs Americans consume. We are a heavily medicated culture.
See, now I’m starting to think getting a shot isn’t a terribly good idea. For many years, I went without and did just fine. If I or my husband get sick this season, we can just be sick for a few days.
My anecdotal evidence says to get one. About ten years ago, I got a case of the flu that put me in bed for a week. Not just staying home sick, literally in bed. I could barely make it to the bathroom. So ever since then, I’ve taken the shot, and not come down with more than the day or two blahs.
Last year, I didn’t get the shot before they limited it, and on New Year’s Eve I got a case of the flu that put me in bed for four days. Not just staying home sick, literally in bed.
You don’t have to hit me with a clue stick more than two or three times - I’m convinced getting the shots is the way to go.
I haven’t had a flu shot before, but this year, I’m planning on it. I’ve had several nasty cases of flu in recent years, starting around 2000 (the one Y2K bug this Y2K expert didn’t allow for! :eek: ) Earlier this year, I caught the strain of flu which was going around and had a fever of over 100 degrees Farenheit for 4 days and residual back aches for 6 weeks. I only get 2 sick days at work. I figure the flu shot is worth a shot, so to speak.
Seeker , I was being somewhat facetious. I have read much of how they ar a total plot to destroy our bodies. I doubt that, but I wonder at the neeed for them in most folks.
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