Have you had your flu shot?

[OakLeaf]

I get them, but with a lot of trepidation. It's really short-sighted, IMHO, trading short-term security for long-term major risk.

Generally if I don't get the shot, I get the flu, and when I get the flu, I'm literally in bed for a week.

So I get a shot most years. And instead of the flu, I get the toxic adjuvants and preservatives in the shot, and a greatly increased risk of getting Alzheimer's in the future.

[Blueberry]

We've never figured out why I react - but my reaction has happened for 8-9 years, and I really don't think I just happened to be getting sick when I took the shot that many years in a row... I get a 101-102 fever, massive body aches and a stuffed up head for 2-3 days following the shot. Maybe I just happened to be getting a mild form of the flu or another similar illness for those 8-9 years on the exact date I got the shot. I highly doubt it. So, I'm not fighting it anymore.

I really wish I didn't react, and could take it. However, I can't.

[ATL Laura]

We've never figured out why I react - but my reaction has happened for 8-9 years, and I really don't think I just happened to be getting sick when I took the shot that many years in a row... I get a 101-102 fever, massive body aches and a stuffed up head for 2-3 days following the shot.

Are you allergic to eggs? The vaccine is produced from virus that is grown in eggs, so you may be having a reaction to the egg by products.

[TsPoet]

IMHO a healthy person who doesn't work in a hospital, with kids, or with the elderly, probably shouldn't bother to get a shot. If you are over ~55, have an illness, or under ~12, you should get a flu shot.
As someone else pointed out, it has a lot to do with personal preference and availability of the shots. I have not heard about a shortage this year. In past years, when there have been shortages, then I think they should have refused to give them to people in the above category.
I get one every year, I’m 41 and one of the healthiest people I know, except for the pesky type 1 diabetes I've had since the age of 12.
I don't react to the shots at all. If I reacted the way some on this list do, I still wouldn't get the shot. The flu is a bummer, but I don't think it's going to kill me.
I also get them free through work. I know the employees would have a fit if they weren't offered, but since the working population is mostly young, mostly healthy, I've always wondered way they give them out to everyone. I also saw that the Target near me is offering them for $7 this year, so cost isn't too much of an issue.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have a healthy dose of suspicion about any drugs and medications foisted upon us public. I used to get flu shots and never noticed any difference in the amount of flus I got or didn't get. Haven't had them for several years in a row and still no noticeable difference in the illnesses I do or don't get. Flu shots only protect from the strains of current flus they are formulated for each year- they offer no protection from the majority of flus going around at any given time, and certainly don't protect from colds at all.
The heck with them- flu shots carry their own set of risks, and I'll just say no.

[Kano]

Haven't done it yet this year -- I plan to. When there are shortages, I leave them for the more at-risk folk and dread the possibilities. I haven't been good at taking the care of myself I should to prevent stuff. I haven't been good at changing that "habit" over the years, and I never want that crap again, so I get a flu shot when there are enough around. 13 years ago, it knocked me out for an entire winter due all the secondary infections that developed that I couldn't clear up on my own. To this day, I live with repercussions of that winter's illness.

Karen in Boise

[HappyAnika]

I have the same opinion of flu shots as LisaS.H. I've never had a flu shot, and I've never had the flu. However, being 6 months pregnant, my OB highly recommends that I get one (at no cost, either through her or through work). I heard of a study of hospital employees in Denver, those that had a flu shot had the same occurence of getting the flu as those that did not get the shot. (I just heard of this study, from my chiro, didn't see it myself). I'm still on the fence. I realize that I'm now in the imuno compromised category, but I just don't think the benefits of getting a shot to prevent a problem I've never had outweigh the risks.

(I'm a research scientist, no contact with sick, elderly, or children. My contract is up first week of December, and then I will be home until the baby is born. I'm a fanatical hand washer and germ-a-phobe. I do my best to not touch things like door handles, public computers, and gas pumps.)

[Blueberry]

I think I'd talk to another doc. Personally, I would be worried about reacting to the flu shot, since you've not had one and don't know how your body will take it.

Just my (admittedly not in favor of the shot) 2 cents. Good luck whatever you decide and congrats

[Tuckervill]

What about being pregnant makes one immuno-compromised? Pregnancy isn't a disease. If you eat right and exercise and rest well, there's no reason to expect to be more likely to get the flu or anything else, I think. The only thing is that some diseases could have dire consequences for the baby, I'm sure.

I think it's kind of harmful to think that pregnancy makes one more susceptible to disease if it's not true. (I don't know for sure if it is.) Not to hijack the thread, but this is an honest question.

Karen

I have the same opinion of flu shots as LisaS.H. I've never had a flu shot, and I've never had the flu. However, being 6 months pregnant, my OB highly recommends that I get one (at no cost, either through her or through work). I heard of a study of hospital employees in Denver, those that had a flu shot had the same occurence of getting the flu as those that did not get the shot. (I just heard of this study, from my chiro, didn't see it myself). I'm still on the fence. I realize that I'm now in the imuno compromised category, but I just don't think the benefits of getting a shot to prevent a problem I've never had outweigh the risks.

(I'm a research scientist, no contact with sick, elderly, or children. My contract is up first week of December, and then I will be home until the baby is born. I'm a fanatical hand washer and germ-a-phobe. I do my best to not touch things like door handles, public computers, and gas pumps.)

[Mr. Bloom]

IMHO a healthy person who doesn't work in a hospital, with kids, or with the elderly, probably shouldn't bother to get a shot.

While I understand your perspective, I'll chime in with a business perspective. My company offers the shots and I always get them.

I think that customers would be very disappointed if they went to the bank and found it closed because all the tellers had the flu

So to me, it's not just about the actual health risk, but a fundamental issue of maintaining business continuity.

[nomummytummy]

So to me, it's not just about the actual health risk, but a fundamental issue of maintaining business continuity.

That is why the chicken pox vaccine was developed initially. Because mothers would need to not be at work looking after kids w chicken pox & if you have 3 or 4 kids that's a lot of weeks when often then get it one after another not all at same time.

Now we are told all the terrible consequences of Chicken pox. It's just a huge beat up to sell more drugs! The risk to business versus the long term consequences of unrequired medications for those we care about. Sorry Mr Silver, but I can't help but wonder if our world has truly gone crazy!!!

[ClockworkOrange]

I had a flu jab last week and then the nurse promptly gave me a pneumonia jab, I was told this lasts for 10 years.

BTW...........jab is a shot in the UK.

I have had a flu jab for the last 5 years or so, never had any side effects. This has been done because of chest infections in recent years. Also, my work involves working closely with youngsters who have been homeless.

I was given the pneumonia jab because of this COPD thing that I appear to have.

Over here in the UK the vaccinations are free, do you have to pay for yours?

Clock

[Xrayted]

FWIW...

I got off the bus at my hospital today and the nursing students were there giving the shot, so I took 5 minutes and got it. My immune system has always been strong and I've never been one to get sick often. I'm around immune compromised people everyday, such as cancer pts going through chemo. I don't want to spread anything that I can avoid simply by getting a shot and as a healthcare provider, I personally feel it would be irresponsible of me to forego it. I can literally have 40+ pts on any given day. I also don't want to drag anything home with me. (there are things much worse than the flu that I'm around, I don't feel the need to push it.)

I can see why some people don't want to get it. I'm ok with that. I've gotten it and they won't be passing it on to me, so whatever. As for those who have gotten it and then still got the flu... the flu vaccine is good for one strain of the flu. It's the one they figure will do the most damage physically and financially. It's not good for the other strains. I do tend to have a minor reaction such as a stuffy nose or achy joints for about 24 hours. I can live with that. And so can my pts and my loved ones.

Take care and have a wonderful day.

[boy in a kilt]

I got a flu snort.

The Guard did my annual "yes you have teeth, eyes, blood and all that" a couple of weeks ago. Part of it is bringing me up to date on my shots. After 14 years of this, I'm pretty sure I'm immune to everything except the common cold.

Anyway.

This year the medic handed me a small syringe sans needle and told me to push the plunger while inhaling. Then she handed me another and made me do it again. She assured me that was my flu shot for the year.

If the crap running down the back of my throat is any indication, my stomach won't be getting the flu this year.

[mountainchick]

I got a flu snort.

The Guard did my annual "yes you have teeth, eyes, blood and all that" a couple of weeks ago. Part of it is bringing me up to date on my shots. After 14 years of this, I'm pretty sure I'm immune to everything except the common cold.

Anyway.

This year the medic handed me a small syringe sans needle and told me to push the plunger while inhaling. Then she handed me another and made me do it again. She assured me that was my flu shot for the year.

If the crap running down the back of my throat is any indication, my stomach won't be getting the flu this year.

I think you might have gotten the flu mist (?). The military might be turning to that now rather than the shot.

My job is actually doing research/surveillance onboard large deck Navy ships as well as surveillance at military treatment facilities (medical clinics etc) of influenza.

Wooppee for flu season, maybe now work will pick up!