# The flu sucks
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 24, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355 "2019-01-24T23:20:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/1 "2019-01-24T23:20:04Z")
Just what the title says.
Motherfuckers, get your shots and/or stay home when you’re sick. Like I’m doing.
I’m taking my collection of rehydrating fluids and going back to bed.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/2 "2019-01-24T23:59:48Z")
Yeah it sucks. Sorry you’re sick.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/3 "2019-01-25T00:22:19Z")
It sucks and it seems to last forever.
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/4 "2019-01-25T00:26:46Z")
For our kid, the flu was marginally worse then the flu shot he got several times before, all and all better not to take the shot for him and play the odds.
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### Author:  [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/5 "2019-01-25T00:44:34Z")
I feel your pain right now, literally. Was diagnosed today with actual influenza, and I credit the flu shot for the fact that I am able to sit up long enough to type this. And I am glad to have a stocked freezer and pantry, such that there is homemade bread that I had put in the bread machine last night and a chicken defrosting in a sink full of water right now for soup (and the last bit of a pot of tomato soup made earlier in the week from frozen garden tomatoes and homemade stock).
It’s just starting to hit **Tom Scud** now; he hadn’t gotten his flu shot yet. Hopefully before the worst of it hits him, I will be past the worst of it. I blame the three co-workers who were sick with flu-like illnesses over the past couple of weeks and didn’t stay home because it was “just a virus.” Well, my asthmatic ass always catches these things, and they often turn into secondary bacterial infections. Just had one of those in December and was hoping not to have a second trip to the doctor in 6 weeks.
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### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/6 "2019-01-25T01:31:48Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> For our kid, the flu was marginally worse then the flu shot he got several times before, all and all better not to take the shot for him and play the odds.
There’s so much wrong with this post. It must be terrible to be so ignorant.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/7 "2019-01-25T01:45:05Z")
I used to get horrible cases of the flu every December/January until I became religious about getting my flu shot. I’m old enough now to get the “super” flu shot for seniors. My sister has the flu (she had just the normal flu shot), and while I feel moderately crappy, I’m completely able to function. She was down for about two days.
When I got bad flu in the past I honestly thought I was going to die.
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/8 "2019-01-25T02:20:18Z")
> [@araminty](#):
>
> There’s so much wrong with this post. It must be terrible to be so ignorant.
Are you not aware that some people have a very bad reactions to the flu shot, the mind boggles 😕
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/9 "2019-01-25T03:56:38Z")
Saw a doctor for the second time this month because of a sinus infection. Basically the cold of your worst nightmare. I get them about every 3 years. I know it. It’s like a storm that keeps coming back to try to kill my ass.
The first doc gave me Doxacillan. I got better. Mostly. Then this shit came back to try to finish me off. Saw another doc today, she tested me for the flu. Negative. (I have had my flu shot)did some sort of breathing therapy for 10 minutes sucking on an asperater, and doc gave me Levofloxin anti-biotics to take. Doc is worried it could turn into phenomia.
> [@Doctor](#):
>
> I don’t know what you’ve got, but you’ve got something
Missed 8 days of work this month. I’m not gonna spread this around.
Wife is OK, seemed to get a touch of it and got better. I’m gonna sleep on the couch again so that she can get a good nights rest without me coughing and trying to get comfortable (I guess I should just go into the guest room. Odd, never thought of that, have never slept in there. Should turn the heat on). But I’m not gonna get any sleep anyway…
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/10 "2019-01-25T04:12:01Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> Are you not aware that some people have a very bad reactions to the flu shot, the mind boggles 😕
How about you read this and stop being so clueless and ignorant.
[https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm)
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/11 "2019-01-25T04:29:11Z")
I get flu shots but I confess that I sometimes get them much later in the season than I should. It’s best to get them in October and November.
This year it seems that H1N1 is the most common strain, and I’ve been vaccinated against that particular strain before, so I might luck out this time. But agreed: it’s always advisable to get a flu shot on time. Flu can do more than just make you sick. It can **kill** you.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/12 "2019-01-25T05:08:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#):
>
> How about you read this and stop being so clueless and ignorant.
>
> [https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm)
IIRC, **Broomstick** is one of those people. (I could be wrong and if I am, I apologize)
However, that’s all the MORE reason for the rest of us to get our flu shots if we can, to protect those who are unable to do so.
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### Author:  [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/13 "2019-01-25T05:27:30Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> Flu can do more than just make you sick. It can **kill** you.
My doc said he had just hospitalized another patient with the flu. Two of my great-grandparents died in the 1918 - 1919 pandemic.
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### Author:  [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/14 "2019-01-25T06:14:49Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> For our kid, the flu was marginally worse then the flu shot he got several times before, all and all better not to take the shot for him and play the odds.
Even if the flu was only marginally worse improving herd immunity is very good.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/15 "2019-01-25T06:21:34Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#):
>
> My doc said he had just hospitalized another patient with the flu. Two of my great-grandparents died in the 1918 - 1919 pandemic.
Most flu strains will just make you really sick and sap you of your energy for a good 10-14 days. But some strains will make your immune system kick into overdrive, and when that happens, the fluids that fill your lungs and the rest of your body can also become breeding grounds for bacteria. If the wrong bacteria get into the blood stream, you then have another problem: sepsis, which can lead to multiple organ failure. It can happen shockingly fast.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/16 "2019-01-25T06:23:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> For our kid, the flu was marginally worse then the flu shot he got several times before, all and all better not to take the shot for him and play the odds.
The house always wins.
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### Author:  [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/17 "2019-01-25T06:31:59Z")
I had the Flu once and as my temp rose on top of already being sick (un-diagnosed infectious kidney stone)… I thought I was dying and cried without tears (because I was so dehydrated) about leaving my 3 under teen kids behind.
The last 4 years I got the shot since our insurance pays for it now. Yeah, I feel like crap after I get it but nowhere near those 3 days where I thought I was going to actually die.
I spent a decade hoping I would never get the Flu again.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/18 "2019-01-25T06:33:09Z")
> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> Are you not aware that some people have a very bad reactions to the flu shot, the mind boggles 😕
Kanicbird, you seem like a conscientious and good parent. I’m not gonna be a smartass with you.
I want to be absolutely clear: I’m not a physician or nurse, but I do currently work in the health field and deal with flu (among other maladies). You might want to consult with a physician, and if you’re getting the advice to avoid flu shots from your current physician, consider getting a second opinion. Vaccines are a major reason why our life spans went from about 48 years in 1900 to about 78 years in the early 2000s, a century later. Antibiotics, clean drinking water, abundance of food, and quick access to hospitals are other reasons, but vaccines are critical.
There are apparently occasionally a few cases in which some individuals are allergic to flu vaccines, but those cases are actually quite rare. I’d wager the number of children who are believed to be allergic to flu vaccines is over-reported, and honestly, I suspect that in some cases, some physicians are playing it safe and advising parents to ‘wait’ until they get older because they’ve dealt with skeptical parents before and said 'Screw it, I’m not wasting my time trying to explain that like less than 1% of the population is allergic to a vaccine." If your child were really allergic, chances are, he/she would be really, really allergic – like near death allergic.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/19 "2019-01-25T06:55:11Z")
Sound advice asahi. As a completely not medical person or parent, I hope my early comment wasn’t too snarky.
I believe that if you are allergic to eggs, a different type of flu vaccine is warranted. Or maybe not recommended.
I’ve had my first shingrex vaccination. I had to put off my second that was supposed to be yesterday because I’m home with a nasty, nasty cold. Canceled a dental appointment too cause of this cold.
Shingles is something I really, really don’t want.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2019, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flu-sucks/828355/20 "2019-01-25T08:01:18Z")
A lot of people think “flu” just means “really bad cold”, which is why they don’t bother to get a flu shot. They don’t realize how dangerous it can be.
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