Ok, Ok. I’m lazy, but I’ll get one this year and going forward.
A problem with having this conversation is that a surprisingly large number of people simply don’t know what influenza actually is. Of course, they all think they know…but they don’t. These people, they get a bad cold and they think it’s the flu. They’re wrong. The flu is much, much more serious.
I had the flu when I was 26. It kicked the shit out of me for nearly 2 weeks. I swear, if you’d offered me ten thousand dollars to get out of bed for five minutes I’d have told you to stick it up your ass. That’s influenza.
The flu kills thousands of people every year. The very young, the very old, the immunocompromised, and those with lung conditions like asthma are particularly at risk. Occasionally, the flu kills perfectly healthy people, too. It’s a serious illness. The flu vaccine, while certainly far from perfect, is better than nothing. It reduces your chance of getting very sick. Since it’s both cheap and perfectly safe (no matter what the hysterical anti-pharma cranks and shrieking drippy-hippie anti-vax mommy-warriors would have you believe), there’s no reason not to have it.
So have it.
I’m digging this information out of a 15-year-old memory of a college lecture, so I’ll happily be overruled by someone with more current information, but what I was told is that each year’s flu strain tends to start in Southeast Asia. This is possibly because there are a lot of humans there sharing close living space with pigs and poultry, so it can hop around between the three main carrier species easily. The influenza virus has six to eight individual RNA strands, sort of like chromosomes, so when a single individual is infected with more than one strain, the strands can mix and match to produce new strains - high-speed evolution, even if you don’t count the high mutation rate.
Anyway, the predictions for each year’s strain are made by watching what comes out of Southeast Asia as it works its way around the world. Sometimes the strain mutates along the way, and sometimes we guess wrong about what’s going to be the predominant type, but it’s not like we’re just shooting in the dark here.
We get free flu shots at work; had mine at the end of September. I’ve had Influenza twice & it’s much worse than a bad cold. So I’m glad to reduce my chances of getting it again…
I get zero side effects from the vaccine, not even a sore muscle. There’s no downside for me to get it, so I get it. Er, when I remember. Even if I do catch a flu, what’s in the vaccine is related enough that I at least stay out of the hospital.
I also wish everyone who gets sick would wear a damn mask. The year H1N1 was huge, I got it. Had also neglected to get vaccinated that year (oh yeah, I’ll make an appointment for next week. Oops. Next week). Got pretty much all the symptoms aside from cyanosis and respiratory issues that would have landed me in the hospital. Stayed home from work for three days, but absolutely had to work through two days I should have stayed home as I was a relief surgical tech and if I didn’t go in they would have had to cancel surgeries for both days. I wore a mask. Washed hands even more than usual, but the mask kept me from spewing mucous around, including keeping me from unconsciously touching my face. It worked - no one else got sick. I was most worried about my pregnant boss, who had also neglected to get the vaccine!
Did you start this thread because of the recent story in the science news?
In case the answer’s no, and you’re unaware of it, a team published a paper in Science that seems to show a breakthrough in developing a universal flu vaccine (cite).
It’s gonna be some time before you or I could receive such a vaccine, but when it does it will certainly make the OP’s decision simpler!
I thought the problem with flu is simply that the virus mutates so much, which is why it depends on informed predictions as to which strain is more likely to be prevalent in each northern winter, which may well not guarantee any given individual against infection.
But from the point of view of maintaining herd immunity (rather than simply protecting oneself), I had the impression that any sort of protection can at least inhibit the chances of whatever strain is prevalent getting enough of a foothold to start mutating into something new and more unpleasant. Am I wrong?
You are wrong. Herd immunity requires that a threshold of protection be reached, such that the basic reproduction number R0 is less than 1 (i.e. one person infected will on average infect less than one additional person). If R0 is above 1 then a low number will reduce the speed at which the disease spreads, but will not halt its spread; if R0 is below 1 then the outbreak will die out on its own, and the lower the number, the sooner that happens.
No, I started this because of the recent news about mandatory health care workers required to either get the shot or, if they are able to get a exemption at all to wear a mask. And many, if given the option, seem to be taking the wearing the mask option.
Shortly after I spoke with a couple who work in hospitals and have refused and are now mask wearing workers. One claims to have a bad reaction to it, basically giving him the flu every time in the past he got it. The other claims that each time one gets the shot it damages the person’s nervous? system (well some part of the body), a little and the cumulative effect of these shots add up, and mentioned that it was not just the inactivated virus stuff, but the carrier ‘fluid’ that is in the injection.
She also claims that hospitals are spraying the vaccine into the air and have installed devices to do this. And that’s another reason that they will wear masks, as they don’t want to breath that stuff in even if they got the vaccine.
So again my own history with the flu and the vaccine came to mind and always the confirmation from my heath care providers that seemed to approve of my not taking it, and that they would do likewise.
So my thoughts came around to the question, is this vaccine damaging to the human body, to the point that the cumulative damage to our heath (each year) is not worth the benefit of the reduction of the disease.
Or to put it more bluntly, will a annual flu vaccine be responsible for more deaths and poorer health for our population over time then the flu itself will claim?
The answer to your last question is a clear and unequivocal NO!
Please clarify if your friends are health care PROVIDERS or health care workers. Because any provider who spouted off that nonsense should lose their license, whereas an under-educated med tech needs to be re-educated and not allowed to be near patients in the meantime.
That they are well worth the risks, given that they protect not only me, but my family, my co-workers, their families, the nice bartender, the cashier, the cranky jerk at the next pump, and all their families. And co-workers. And cranky jerks.
In brief, the risks are that the vaccine would be ineffective, allergenic, or contaminated.
If it is ineffective, I’m no worse off. I might still get the flu.
If it is allergenic, there is a health professional (or a dozen) right there to assist me.
If it is contaminated, I might get sick, maybe very, very sick, maybe even die. Just like if I got the flu.
The potential harm to me is no greater if I get the vaccine, and I am pretty sure the risk is much less, but I don’t have the stats for that handy; you could probably find them at the CDC.
The potential benefit to me and to my community is significant.
Some people do have a bad reaction to vaccines, although I’m sceptical of people who say they “got the flu” from it as it’s more likely to be a mild allergic reaction.
This is a crazy person. If they are a healthcase professional, they need to stay away from the general public because they might infect others with their crazy.
Please report these employees to their employers and to any relevant regulatory agencies.
Regarding the bioaccumulative effects, I’m guessing they’re referring to the mercury in Thimerosal, which is still used in some forms of flu vaccines. Yes, Thimerosal contains mercury. No, it’s not dangerous in that form. Reference: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/faqs.html#2A
As to the claim that hospitals are spraying the vaccine…wait, what? First of all, what would be the benefit to them? Secondly, if there are serious side effects, what organization would expose themselves to that kind of liability?
If getting the flu vaccine causes you to have a side effect, consult your doctor to get specific medical advice.
I’m guessing they are ear-candlers or gnc cashiers.
I got my flu shot. The only pain was wallet-oriented. The pharmacy cashier looked at my insurance card and told me I wasn’t covered for flu, so I shrugged and paid cash. Later I found out that my daughter (on my plan) was covered. I got screwed.
I’m pretty sure there are no regulations requiring anyone to work in health care. As for the other questions that you are just asking, they are bunkum with the exception of this:
Almost correct. Actually, it’s the government that is spraying “flu vaccine” via chemtrails. This is a Fourth Reich Black Ops False Flag operation, designed to make the populace vaguely ill and more controllable. It works in tandem with the low-level radiation constantly emitted by our cellphones.
Careful here, Jack, you’ll get a glosso-buccal fistula
Have you seen the comments in this thread from people who got the flu? I’ve heard it described that for the first couple of days, you’re so sick that you’re worried you may die. But then it gets worse and you’re more concerned that you may not die.
The upside is huge.
By the way, the mild symptoms you get are not from the virus attacking your body, it’s from your body detecting an invader and firing up its immune system to learn how to fight it.
Another reason to get it is that there are many people in the population who either can’t get it, or it’s just not very effective for them. The elderly are especially vulnerable because the vaccine just doesn’t work very well for them, and if they do get the flu it’s more likely to kill them. They depend on others getting vaccinated - the more people get the shot, the less likely it is that these folks will be infected.
That first, as a personal factor in the decision, I get because of my reaction to many immunizations. I am also not a health care worker and don’t have regular contact with people with compromised immune systems. That changes things IMO. The second …unscientific BS is unscientific BS regardless of the field they are employed in.
Can we all agree that “pro-vax” isn’t a thing?
There are anti-vaxers and there people.