# Have you gotten a flu vaccination this flu season? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126 "2012-12-05T22:00:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/41 "2012-12-06T17:17:23Z")
No, because I don’t want to get sick, nor do I wish to piss off my girlfriend (Jenny McCarthy). ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/42 "2012-12-06T17:31:03Z")
Nursing mom here, got mine in October. Just returned from pediatrician, 6 month old infant had part I of the two shot infant flu vaccine. Had the flu twice, never want to do it again. Ever. Hounded family members, all but one agreed. The one who declined is in the VA as I type this struggling with flu and pneumonia. Grandfather is very sick, and it could have been avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/43 "2012-12-06T17:35:39Z")
I’m not agin the idee… I’ve just never bothered to go for one. Why? Is it that important? ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/44 "2012-12-06T17:43:11Z")
Got mine a month ago, free through the University. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/45 "2012-12-06T17:46:08Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > No, because I don’t want to get sick, nor do I wish to piss off my girlfriend (Jenny McCarthy). Flu shots don’t make you sick unless you’re allergic to it. It’s not a live virus. We got ours like every year, but apparently it doesn’t inoculate against “type H” virus, which is what my wife’s doctor thinks she had (and I caught). Two weeks of coughing. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/46 "2012-12-06T17:50:51Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’ve never gotten a flu shot, and don’t plan to any year soon. I don’t have a problem with vaccinations in general, just for some reason I feel like “I never had a flu shot for years and years and years and I cam through just fine…why should I start getting one now?” > > I’m generally a fairly rational person; this is one area where I claim my right to stick to my decision for no reason other than “I don’t want to.” This pretty much sums it up for me. Maybe if I were not 34 years old and in near mint condition, I would think differently. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/47 "2012-12-06T17:50:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I’m not agin the idee… I’ve just never bothered to go for one. Why? Is it that important? Yep, and it takes a couple weeks to build immunity, so you have enough time to arm yourself before the holidays. This strain is reportedly a bear, and tough to recover from. The flu feels like you spent a couple nights sleeping nude on a cold gravel driveway. The aches and pains are brutal, and the cough is exhausting. Here’s a link to the CDC’s flu news page, people have died, many hospitalized. And it’s early. [http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news.htm) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/48 "2012-12-06T18:00:25Z")
I got mine in September, and didn’t even know it. I was in the hospital for heart surgery, and at some point someone gave me a flu shot. I didn’t know it till I saw it in my chart. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/49 "2012-12-06T18:02:09Z")
I got mine when I went to the doctor for a shoulder injury. They asked if I’d had one, then told me I was getting one. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/50 "2012-12-06T18:08:42Z")
I should get mine (I’m asthmatic), but just haven’t done it yet this year. They did them at work a few weeks ago, but I was swamped that day. ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/51 "2012-12-06T18:10:46Z")
I wasn’t planning to, but it was required of me by the government. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/52 "2012-12-06T18:15:43Z")
No way. I’m not letting big Pharma and the government stick all those nasty chemicals in my body! 😉 In case anyone thought I was serious. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/53 "2012-12-06T18:18:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Flu shots don’t make you sick unless you’re allergic to it. It’s not a live virus. I wish more people knew this. (Of course there is also a large number of people out there that won’t believe you when you tell them this). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/54 "2012-12-06T18:46:39Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > I wish more people knew this. > > (Of course there is also a large number of people out there that won’t believe you when you tell them this). The mantra usually goes like this: I got a flu shot and I got sick. Or: every time I get a flu shot, I get sick. It usually doesn’t occur to people that the two are not related. A flu vaccination only protects you against certain strains of the virus. You can still get sick, but you likely won’t get a strain that makes you feel like you’re going to die. A more likely conflation would be: I rode the bus downtown to a packed movie premier a week ago and now I’m sick. I chaperoned my son’s 5th grade class on a trip to the museum, and now I’m puking my guts out. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/55 "2012-12-06T20:23:55Z")
Got it back in September. I’ve had the flu once and it was awful. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/56 "2012-12-07T02:32:03Z")
I seem to have had a [reaction to my flu shot](http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc202/MrMickeysMom/pigman.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/57 "2012-12-07T02:36:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I seem to have had a [reaction to my flu shot](http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc202/MrMickeysMom/pigman.jpg). No, it appears you’ve caught yourself a new strain of swine flu. Sorry 'bout that. Dibs on the bacon. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/58 "2012-12-07T03:44:49Z")
Had the flu once in my adult memory. Never intend to again, because IT WAS LAME. So, yeah, got a shot. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/59 "2012-12-07T07:32:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Flu shots don’t make you sick unless you’re allergic to it. It’s not a live virus. > > We got ours like every year, but apparently it doesn’t inoculate against “type H” virus, which is what my wife’s doctor thinks she had (and I caught). Two weeks of coughing. If you’re getting a flu _shot_ you should not have any symptoms, because it’s not a live virus. You may get a cold around the time you get the flu shot, but the two are entirely unrelated. If, however, you get the nasal vaccine which involves a spritz up your nose rather than an injection, you are getting a live virus. You may, within a few days of receiving FluMist, develop some minor flu-like symptoms; this is a normal reaction to the vaccine. The most common are a sore throat, stuffy nose, and fever. These are generally minor and will go away on their own within a few days, and can be treated with common over-the-counter drugs. (Had my flu vaccine back in October, have administered hundreds this year.) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126/60 "2012-12-07T12:10:27Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Yep, and it takes a couple weeks to build immunity, so you have enough time to arm yourself before the holidays. This strain is reportedly a bear, and tough to recover from. The flu feels like you spent a couple nights sleeping nude on a cold gravel driveway. The aches and pains are brutal, and the cough is exhausting. Here’s a link to the CDC’s flu news page, people have died, many hospitalized. And it’s early. [http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news.htm) Mom’s been off work all week with her flu. Her fever is coming down now, but she says her whole chest is still incredibly sore from all the coughing. For two days this week, she was coughing so hard she couldn’t keep food down. she’s a smoker, so the respiratory stuff usually hits her harder than average, but she hasn’t missed a week of work like this in _years_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-gotten-a-flu-vaccination-this-flu-season/643126.md?page=4)